A landlord’s obligation to repair

Property damage is possibly the most misunderstood area of the renting process, as there are often many grey areas. Who is responsible for what? What damage is accidental? How do you know the difference between damage and fair wear and tear?

Unfortunately, nearly half of current UK tenants are living with one or more housing disrepair issues, whether its mould, damp, leaks, electrical hazards, heating or hot water issues. Many landlords feel that tenants are often not held accountable for damages created within rental property when they should be. So, where do we draw the lines? What is a landlord’s obligation to repair?

What repairs are landlords responsible for?

Essentially, landlords are responsible for most repairs to a property. The only damage that your tenants can be held responsible for is damage caused themselves – accidental or malicious.

Exterior damage

It’s a landlord’s obligation to repair and maintain a property’s structure and interior, defined in the Landlord and Tenant Act from 1985 and the Housing Act of 2004. Generally speaking, a landlord is to keep the exterior in repair, including the roof, external walls, foundations, windows, doors, drains and exterior pipes, the guttering and water collection and lastly, the fence.

If the tenant or any of their guests cause damage to any of these aspects of the property, it’s up to them to cover the cost of the repairs.

Exterior damage can be dangerous if it’s ignored. The last thing you want is your tenant hurting themselves because you didn’t get round to fixing a loose roof tile. If it’s a risk to your tenant’s wellbeing, it’s mandatory for you to repair it within a reasonable time. However, cosmetic and non-essential damages such as rendering or stone cladding of an exterior wall are your discretion to repair, if and when you want to.

Landlord garden responsibilities

A big grey area is often the garden. It differs from property to property, so you’ll need to clarify who is responsible for what in the tenancy agreement. Often, it falls to the tenant – aside from the fencing, driveway and patio which are usually classed as the property exterior and therefore, be left to the landlord to handle.

A landlord’s garden responsibilities usually come down to maintaining areas of the garden that tenants cannot reasonably maintain. It’s often down to tenants to de-weed the garden, cut the grass and keep the garden litter-free and tidy. Landlords cannot expect tenants to upgrade or make improvements to the garden.

Safety features and appliance maintenance

It goes without saying that it is a landlord’s responsibility to provide tenants with a safe and sound property to live in. That means ensuring that all safety features are correctly installed, maintained and in good working order. Gas equipment is to be reviewed by a gas-safe engineer with a copy of the certificate given to the tenants.

Electrics have become a big factor in ensuring the safety of a home, with new recommended safety measures being introduced to the private housing sector. Every year, a number of deaths and injuries in UK homes are caused by faulty electrics and electrical equipment. Almost half of all domestic fires are caused by electricity and those living in privately rented property are statistically at a higher risk of electric shock.

Five-year mandatory electrical installation safety checks and safety certificates for tenants to prove that checks and repair work have been completed are now in place. And let’s not forget fire safety. Provide and maintain a smoke alarm on each storey of a property and a carbon monoxide in any room necessary. Most furniture and furnishings on the market are fire-safe but always double-check. Also, ensure that there is an available escape route at all times.

As for appliances, there’s no single approach. However, whatever you provide to your tenants is your responsibility to maintain and keep safe to be used. Test them regularly to make sure that there’s no chance of them malfunctioning and causing damage. This way, you can keep an eye on them and are more likely to notice if your tenant is causing unnecessary damage to them by misusing them.

As with most aspects of property damage, the golden rule is that if the tenant or any of their guests cause damage, it is their responsibility to pay up for repairs or replacements.

Accidental damage

Accident or not, damage should be reported to you straight away. This could be anything from a broken table, chairs or bed frames, a burn in the carpet, broken windows caused by the tenant or someone they know, pet damage, broken curtain poles or damaged appliances due to bad usage.

Sometimes, damage is less obvious, like mould growing as a result of bad ventilation. This kind of damage can be paid for using your tenants deposit, as it goes beyond fair wear and tear. To open the lines of communication, provide your tenant with a list of preferred repairmen to use in the event of an accident. This should encourage them to handle accidents promptly and in the right way, instead of shying away from the problem.

Malicious damage

This element of damage is possibly every landlord’s worst nightmare. Along with it comes a difficult tenant and maybe even legal action. Malicious damage is classed as deliberate damage caused to a property and/or possessions by an individual who is lawfully on the premises, i.e. your tenant.

The difficulty comes with knowing what is an accident and what could be malicious. If you’re having a problematic relationship with your tenant and find fixtures and fittings damaged or removed, or holes in the wall, this could indicate malicious damage. Be sure to take photographic evidence and report all incidents of malicious damage to the police so that you can retain crime reference numbers.

If your property becomes a victim of malicious damage, you may be able to deduct the cost of the repairs from your tenant’s deposit. This will depend on the evidence that you have of the damage and the cost of the repairs. You may also be able to claim on your landlord insurance policy if it covers malicious damage. This is often an optional-add on so check your policy carefully.

In extreme cases, you may be able to take legal action against your tenant for malicious damage. This way, you may be able to recover the full cost of the repairs. Legal action can be time-consuming and expensive.

Fair wear and tear

The law now differentiates between fair wear and tear and actual damage. It is no longer a landlord’s discretion. It is legally defined by the House of Lords as ‘reasonable use of the premises by the tenant and the ordinary operation of natural forces’. This basically means damage that will inevitably occur as a result of the property being lived in.

This can include scuffs on the walls, wear on carpets and faded curtains. It’s not the kind of damage that you can expect a tenant to pay for. If some items in the house were worn at the start of the tenancy and by the end of the tenancy are damaged as a result of usage, this could still be classed as fair wear and tear. It’s unfair to expect your property and its contents back in a better condition than at the start of the tenancy.

Landlords are commonly attempting to classify ordinary wear and tear as damage without providing photographic or written evidence. It’s important that we know where the line is. Landlords can also now claim 10% on a ‘wear and tear allowance’ on any furnishings that they are not providing for the first time in a tenancy.

What repairs are tenants responsible for?

So, we’ve covered the many aspects of repairs that landlords are responsible for. But what repairs are tenants responsible for?

Tenants have a ‘tenant-like’ duty of care. This essentially means that, as a condition implied in all tenancy agreements, a tenant must use their home in a ‘tenant-like’ way. This typically includes fixing and replacing light bulbs, unblocking sinks, replacing toilet seats and the like.

It also includes maintaining the property and the garden to a good standard of cleanliness and tidiness and caring for their own appliances such as televisions or washing machines. Outline within your tenancy agreement your tenant’s repair responsibilities so that everyone is aware of expectations.

A landlord’s obligation to repair today

Over the years, there has been a growing emphasis on tenant rights. The Fit for Human Habitation Act 2018 focuses on ensuring that landlords provide housing that meets habitable living standards. It strengthens the importance of a landlord’s obligation to repair and maintain the property. In recent years, deposit protection schemes have also come into play to strengthen the protection of tenants deposits and the deductions that can be made for damages.

In short, there has been a growing awareness of the impact of disrepair on tenant’s lives, health and wellbeing. This puts pressure on landlords to ensure that they be proactive in providing a safe place for tenants to live.

Worried about damaged property? Landlord insurance is the safety blanket that you need. Contact us for an online quote today and let us arrange the cover you need to provide peace of mind.