Your landlord is responsible for making sure that your home meets the minimum legal standard, this includes ensuring the property is regularly maintained; for example the servicing of gas appliances and the electrical installation.
Your landlord must also carry out essential repairs to the following as and when these are required:
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the roof
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Windows
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Doors
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Drains
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Gutters
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Baths, sinks and toilets
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Heating and hot water
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Repairs to remedy dampness
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General building repairs
Your landlord must also repair damage that was caused by someone with no connection to you - for example during a break-in or vandalism, however, YOU must repair any damage that you, your family or your visitors have caused.
As a tenant you are responsible for minor repairs including replacing fuses, or clearing a blocked sink. When repairs are required, you must provide your landlord with reasonable access to the property to enable the repairs to be carried out.
Reporting repairs
When a repair needs doing, tell the landlord as soon as possible. You have to give the landlord a reasonable time to do the repair.
There are no hard and fast rules about how long work should take; it depends on the urgency of the job. A blocked toilet should be repaired much more quickly than a sticking window for example. If the repair isn’t done in a reasonable time, even after reminding the landlord, do not stop paying your rent. The Council can help.
The Council has legal powers under the Housing Act 2004 to ensure that your landlord attends to repairs within your rented property. On contacting us we will arrange to visit you and to inspect the property.
The inspection process uses the Housing Health & Safety Rating System. It uses a risk assessment approach, the aim of which is to enable risks from hazards to health and safety in dwellings to be removed or minimised.
Hazards relating to the following are inspected;
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HAZARDS
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|
1
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Cold
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9
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Uncombusted fuels
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17
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Personal Hygiene
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25
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Flames & hot surfaces
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|
2
|
Damp & Mould
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10
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Volatile Organic Compounds
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18
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Water Supply
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26
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Collision and Entrapment
|
|
3
|
Heat
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11
|
Crowding & Space
|
19
|
Falls associated with baths
|
27
|
Explosion
|
|
4
|
Asbestos
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12
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Entry by Intruders
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20
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Falls on level
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28
|
Position & operability of amenities etc
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|
5
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Biocides
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13
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Noise
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21
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Falls on stairs
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29
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Structural Collapse
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|
6
|
Carbon Monoxide etc
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14
|
Light
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22
|
Falls between levels
|
|
|
|
7
|
Lead
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15
|
Domestic Hygiene
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23
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Electrical hazards
|
|
|
|
8
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Radiation
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16
|
Food Safety
|
24
|
Fire Hazard
|
|
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In addition there is specific legislation for the following:
Gas safety
Every year about 30 people die from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by gas appliances and flues, which have not been properly installed or maintained.
The law says that gas appliances, fittings and flues provided for tenants must be properly installed and maintained to avoid the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
The landlord must get all gas appliances including central heating systems, heaters, fires, cookers and gas pipework and flues checked at least every 12 months by Gas Safe registered engineers. Landlords must issue tenants with a record of this. Please see the Gas safety leaflet on the right of this page for more information.
Electrical Safety
The landlord should ensure that the electrical installation in a property is in a safe and satisfactory condition; it is also an offence for a landlord to supply unsafe electrical equipment.
Although there is no legal responsibility on the landlord to test the electrical installation and electrical equipment, it is good practice for a competent electrician to check appliances provided by them once a year and to have the electrical installation inspected every 5 years.
Fire safety & Furniture
All furniture (except furniture made before 1950) included in the accommodation must meet all the current fire resistance requirements and carry permanent labels confirming this. This applies to anything which is upholstered or has a filling - like sofas, armchairs, mattresses, pillows, padded headboards and cushions.
Fire Safety
The landlord must comply with specific laws about fire safety if the property is rented out to more than five people who do not form a single household which is known as a ‘house in multiple occupation’ or HMO .
An HMO could be: a house split into separate bedsits; a shared house or flat where tenants have separate tenancy agreements; a hostel; or a bed and breakfast hotel which is not just for holidays.
HMOs must have adequate, and well-maintained fire alarms, extinguishers and fire blankets, fire doors, fire escapes and escape routes, smoke or heat alarms.
We strongly recommend that even if you don’t live in an HMO you should ask your landlord to put smoke alarms in your home, and ensure that they are checked regularly.
To make a request for service or for further advice, please contact the Private Sector Housing Team today on (0191) 433 3000, or contact us online now by completing the form below.