As a landlord you are legally responsible for repairs to the structure of the building: the roof, windows, doors, drains, gutters, baths, sinks, toilets, heating, hot water, damp and general building repairs. You must also repair damage that was caused by someone with no connection to the tenant - for example during a break-in or vandalism.
Your tenant must do minor jobs, like replacing fuses, or clearing a blocked sink. Your tenant must also repair damage that they or their visitors have caused.
You must maintain your property to a reasonable stand and at least meet the minimum housing standard. If your property is of a good standard why not see if it meets the Accreditation Standard? If it does you could get your property accredited – see Private Rented Accreditation Scheme|
Reporting repairs
When a repair needs doing, your tenant should tell you as soon as possible. Or phone you if it’s an emergency (such as a burst pipe).
You should endeavour to do the repair as soon as possible and in a reasonable time. 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, the tenant can complain to the council who will investigate the matter.
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.
You, as 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. You must issue tenants with a record of this. See the Gas Safety leaflet| found on the right of this page.
Electrical Safety
You should ensure that the electrical installation in a property is in a safe and satisfactory condition, as it is an offence for a landlord to supply unsafe electrical equipment.
Although there is no legal responsibility on you,the landlord, to test the electrical installation and electrical equipment, it is good practice for a competent electrician to check appliances once a year and have the electrical installation inspected every 5 years. See the Landlord's guide to Electrical Safety| leaflet on the right of this page.
Fire Safety
As the landlord, you must keep to specific laws about fire safety if you rent out a property that’s occupied by more than one household - 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.
Houses in Multiple Occupation| ( HMO s) 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 own a HMO you should consider putting smoke alarms in your rented property , and see that they are checked regularly.