What repairs are tenants responsible for?

The repairs and jobs that are usually yours

• Small jobs: light bulbs, fuses, smoke-alarm batteries, and resetting a tripped switch.
• Blockages you caused, such as a toilet blocked by wipes or a sink blocked by fat.
• Keeping the home reasonably clean, heated and ventilated, including wiping away everyday condensation.
• Looking after the garden, if you have one and your agreement says so.
• Damage caused by you, your household or your visitors — a broken door, a burn in a worktop, holes in walls.
• Anything your tenancy agreement makes your responsibility that the law allows it to.
• Telling the landlord promptly about problems, so they do not get worse.

Everything in the structure, exterior and installations — roof, walls, windows, drains, boiler, heating, hot water, wiring, pipes, toilets and baths — is the landlord’s to repair unless you damaged it. See what repairs is my landlord responsible for?

Fair wear and tear is not damage

Things wear out with ordinary use: carpets thin, paint fades and scuffs, fittings loosen with age. That is fair wear and tear, and a landlord cannot charge you for it. Damage is different — something broken, stained or marked by an accident or carelessness. The longer you have lived somewhere, the more wear is expected.

Can a landlord charge me for repairs?

Only for damage you are responsible for. A landlord cannot charge you for repairs that are its own legal duty — a broken boiler, a leaking roof, faulty wiring — or for fair wear and tear. If the landlord says you caused a problem, ask it to explain why and to show the evidence, such as a contractor’s report.

In England, the Tenant Fees Act 2019 limits what private landlords and letting agents can charge. Rent, a capped deposit and a few named payments are allowed, along with payments for breaching your tenancy, such as damage you caused. A made-up fee for a call-out or for “maintenance” is not. Wales has similar rules under the Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Act 2019.

Taking money from your deposit

Most landlords recover the cost of damage from the deposit at the end of the tenancy. Deposits for most private tenancies must be protected in a government-approved scheme. If you disagree with a deduction, each scheme offers a free dispute service, where an independent adjudicator decides on the evidence — usually the check-in inventory, the check-out report and photos.

That is why a dated inventory and photos at the start and end of a tenancy matter so much.

Can a landlord put the rent up because of repairs?

A landlord cannot add the cost of its own repairs to your rent outside the normal rules for rent increases. For most private tenancies in England, rent can only go up in the ways the law allows — for a periodic tenancy, generally once a year with a formal notice that you can challenge at a tribunal. Social landlords follow their own rent rules. If a rent increase arrives straight after you reported a repair, keep a record of the dates.

If the landlord says the damage was your fault

Disputes about cause are common with damp and mould, blocked drains and leaks. Ask for the landlord’s reasons in writing. Keep your own evidence — photos, the dates you reported the problem, and anything showing the cause, such as a leak from outside or missing ventilation. For damp and mould, see is condensation mould my landlord’s responsibility?