Repairs and property condition information sheet

Property condition refers to the physical state, quality, and functionality of your home.

This could relate to:

• repairs inside your home
• the condition of the home when you move in
• the maintenance and decoration of common parts or shared areas
• repairs in other properties which affect the enjoyment of your home, like leaks between properties
• leaks, damp, and mould
• defects in drainage
• lack of heating and hot water

You must report repairs to your landlord directly. You can do this via:

• website or online portal/app (if it has one)
• email
• phone
• in person, for example telling your Housing Officer

Landlords should have a repairs policy published on its website which sets out how it will respond to a repair request and response times.

You must allow landlords access to your home to complete repairs. If you do not allow access to your landlord, it may be able to seek an injunction from the court. You should speak to your landlord if you need:

• a chaperone or someone with you during visits to your home
• notice before anyone visits you in your home

Who should carry out a repair in your home depends on the type of agreement you have with your landlord.

If you have a tenancy agreement, the tenancy will usually place an obligation on the landlord to complete repairs to:

• the structure and exterior of the property (including walls, stairs, roof, windows, and window frames)
• gas and water pipes
• sewage pipes and gutters
• central heating systems
• sinks, baths, and toilets (but not toilet seats unless they are adapted)

When you report a repair to your landlord, it should:

• consider the information provided by the resident and if there should be a visit to the property
• decide if the repair is an emergency or urgent and if any immediate action should be taken
• complete any necessary temporary repairs, such as isolating the water where there’s a leak
• inspect and decide if it’s responsible to complete the repair
• explain when it will complete any outstanding repairs and if not responsible, why
• decide if it’s safe for a resident to stay in their home
• give reasonable notice of repair appointments and a schedule of any works needed

Shared Owners and leaseholders may have different responsibilities when it comes to repairs.

Leaseholder and shared ownership expectations

Property condition requirements

Fitness for human habitation

Under Section 9A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, landlords must ensure properties are fit for human habitation at the start of a tenancy and throughout.

Landlord and Tenant Act 1985

Section 11 places an obligation on landlords to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the property and keep in repair and proper working order the installations for the supply of water, gas, electricity, sanitation, heating, and heating water.

If you need adaptations to make it easier to live or move around your home with a disability, you may have certain rights under the law.

Aids and adaptations can include:

• hand or grabrails
• wheelchair access including ramps, wider door frames, and lower units
• modified kitchen or bathroom spaces
• wet room or walk-in showers

In the first instance, speak to your landlord to find out how to request adaptations to your home. Your local authority's occupational health department must assess people with disabilities and decide whether it can adapt your home to improve your living conditions.

We cannot consider a complaint about the assessment provided by an Occupational Therapist, local authority, or a decision on whether to install adaptations in your home.

This would be for the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Reporting a repair is a service request. This is different from making a complaint about your landlord.

People often call both ‘a complaint,’ but they are different.

You can complain if you’re unhappy with how your landlord has handled your service request.

A complaint might be about:

• the landlord taking too long to complete the repairs
• the quality or standard of works carried out by your landlord
• the actions or behaviour of a landlord’s contractors
• the landlord not following the tenancy agreement or its repair policy

To do this, you must use your landlord's formal complaint process.

When raising a complaint, you should tell the landlord about any outstanding repairs. This will help the landlord to put things right.

A good way to do this is as follows .

This is an example table. When creating your own table, please include your own dates and issues.

Landlords' response to formal complaints

Your landlord must reply to a complaint in line with its complaint procedure. Our Complaint Handling Code sets out the timescales a landlord must respond to a complaint.

Stage 1:

• acknowledge the complaint within 5 working days of it being received
• respond, in writing, within 10 working days of the date the complaint was acknowledged

Stage 2:

• acknowledge a request to escalate the complaint within 5 working days of it being received
• respond, in writing, within 20 working days of the escalation request being acknowledged

You can bring a complaint to us for investigation if your landlord does not resolve your issues through their complaint procedure.

Tell us:

• what went wrong
• what your landlord should do to put things right

We need your landlord's stage 2 response before we can help. This is their final answer to your complaint.

You can refer your complaint to us within 12 months of your landlord's stage 2 response. We’re unlikely to investigate complaints referred after this deadline unless there are good reasons for the delay.

Help if your landlord does not reply to your complaint

We can help you get a response from your landlord if they do not follow their complaint procedure or our Complaint Handling Code.

Send us a copy of the complaint to your landlord. This helps us understand if your landlord follows its complaint procedure.

The easiest way to do this is by using our helpful online form. The form will ask you about your complaint and you can upload supporting evidence.

Online complaint form

You can also phone, email, or write to us.

Find out more about making a complaint to your landlord

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