What if your private landlord will not do repairs

Your landlord must:

• carry out important repairs in your home

• make sure your home is fit to live in

You are responsible for any damage that you, your family or guests cause.

Wear and tear caused by normal everyday living does not count as damage.

Your landlord should fix things that break through wear and tear.

Report repairs to your landlord as soon as you can.

Keep records and evidence

Keep records and evidence of the repair problem.

Proof of the problems can include:

• photos of the problem and any damage to your belongings

• emails, texts and letters to and from your landlord

• doctor’s notes if your health is affected

Write to your landlord again

Make sure they are aware of what the problem is. 

Send an email or letter so you have a record of it. 

When you write to them:

• remind them of their responsibility to do repairs

• suggest dates and times for the repairs

• tell your landlord the level of repair that you would find acceptable

• let them know about any poor or unfinished work

Give your landlord a reasonable deadline to respond to your letter. 

Complain to the letting agent

You can complain to the agent if you face unreasonable delays.

You can complain to the letting agent's redress scheme if you're not happy with their response.

Contact the council's private renting team

Your next step could be to report your landlord to your council's private renting team.

You can do this if your landlord or agent:

• delays repairs unreasonably

• does not respond or fix the problem

The council's private renting team can help get your landlord to do the repairs.

They can also ask for an inspection from the council's environmental health team.

Ask your local councillor to contact the private renting team for you if the council will not do an inspection.

You can decide whether you tell your landlord that you will report them to the council.

If you arrange repairs yourself

It could be risky to do the work yourself or pay someone else to do it.

You are responsible for the work. Your landlord could charge you if there are problems. For example if:

• your landlord is not happy with the standard of the work

• there is damage caused by work you arranged

Your landlord might not pay the costs of the repairs.

They could try to evict you if work causes damage or they think you broke your tenancy agreement.

Asking for a rent reduction

If you do arrange repairs yourself, you could ask your landlord if you can pay less rent temporarily to cover the cost of the work.

Get the landlord's permission for the work and any rent reduction in writing.

Consider legal action

You can take your landlord to court if they will not fix problems. 

Only consider legal action as a last resort. 

If you do take legal action, the court can order your landlord to:

• carry out the repair work

• pay you compensation

Use our letter templates

We have more letter templates for private tenants who need repairs done.