Telling your landlord when something has gone wrong

Whatever the issue, contact your landlord as soon as possible after the problem or query arises. This provides the landlord with the best opportunity to put things right. 

Check your landlord’s website for advice on how to report issues in your home. You may also be able to make reports on an online resident portal, if your landlord has one.  

Your landlord should have a general customer service number to contact or you can send details of the issues in an email to it.  

You could also tell your housing officer about the problems in your home and ask them to log it for you or provide you with the details for the team you need to speak with. 

When you move into your home, your landlord should provide you with a tenant or leaseholder handbook, which includes contact information including email addresses and phone numbers. It should also provide 24-hour contact details for reporting emergencies or urgent repairs. 

We suggest that you send an email or use a landlord’s online portal so that you have a record of the report or request you make to your landlord. If you report a problem over the phone, you could follow this up in an email to the landlord and ask it to provide you with a reference number for the job you have raised. Or, keep a note of the time, date and who you spoke to.  

If a problem is urgent for example, a burst pipe, you should let the landlord know immediately. A phone call is the most effective way to let the landlord know about an issue that requires urgent action. Again, we suggest you keep a note of what you said, the date and time, and any response the landlord gave. 

Always give your landlord time to respond to the report you made to it. Your landlord will have its own policy and procedure for how it responds to reports made to it. 

If you cannot access your landlord’s policy on its website, you can contact it, ask it to send you a copy.  

If the situation changes or worsens, you should update your landlord so that it can act based on the most up to date information.