Repairs, maintenance and minimum standards

Minimum standards

Your landlord has a legal duty to make sure that your home meets certain minimum physical standards.

However, it is important to note that your landlord's responsibilities (to keep the water pipes, for example, in good repair) do not normally cover you for any damage to your possessions (caused by burst pipes, for example) and the landlord's insurance policy is unlikely to cover your personal belongings.

A number of insurance companies provide contents insurance for private tenants.

The housing charity Threshold has a number of tips on their website for tenants experiencing issues with flooding and burst pipes.

New standards

From 1 February 2009, properties for rent must meet new minimum physical standards as outlined in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2008 (pdf).

A further set of regulations, the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 (pdf) came into effect on 1 December 2009.

The Regulations intend to improve standards in rental accommodation. They will gradually phase out the traditional bedsit, by requiring each rental unit to have its own toilet and bath or shower facilities. An open fire will no longer suffice as a sole source of heating; central heating or an equivalent will be required.

A house, flat or apartment which is let for rent for the first time after 1 February 2009 must comply fully with the Regulations. However, some of the Regulations will not apply to existing tenancies until 1 February 2013. This means, if a house was let for rent between 1 September 2004 and 31 January 2009 it doesn’t have to meet all of the new minimum physical standards (see 'Existing rental properties' below).

New rented properties

From 1 February 2009, a landlord must:

• Ensure that the house is in a proper state of structural repair. This means that it must be essentially sound with roof, floors, ceilings, walls and stairs in good repair and not subject to serious dampness or rotting. The new Regulations strengthen this requirement with effect from 1 December 2009 (see below)
• Provide a sink with hot and cold water
• Provide a separate ventilated room with a bath or shower and toilet
• Provide heating appliances for every room lived in
• Provide facilities for cooking and for the hygienic storage of food, for example, a 4 ring hob with oven and grill, fridge-freezer and microwave oven
• Provide clothes washing facilities
• Provide clothes drying facilities if there isn’t a garden or a yard
• Ensure that electricity or gas supplies are in good repair and safe
• Ensure that every room has adequate ventilation and both natural and artificial lighting
• Provide a fire blanket and fire alarms
• Provide access to vermin-proof and pest-proof refuse storage facilities.

From 1 December 2009, the requirement to maintain the house in a proper state of structural repair is spelt out in more detail. The new Regulations require landlords to maintain the house in a sound state, inside and out. The Regulations specify that roofs, roofing tiles, slates, windows, floors, ceilings, walls, stairs, doors, skirting boards, fascias, tiles on any floor, ceiling and wall, gutters, down pipes, fittings, furnishings, gardens and common areas must be maintained in good condition and repair. They must not be defective due to dampness or otherwise.

Existing rental properties

If a property has been let for rent at any time between 1 September 2004 and 31 January 2009 it doesn’t have to meet the new standards for sanitary, heating, laundry, food preparation and storage facilities until 1 February 2013. However, it must meet all other standards set out in the Regulations.

This means, an existing rental property can continue to provide:

• A toilet and bath/shower for every two flats, unless four single people are living in four single bedsits in which case all four may share a toilet and bath/shower
• Provide appliances for heating, which may include an open fire.

Local authorities and housing bodies

Local authorities and certain housing bodies do not have to adhere to the new Regulations on laundry, food preparation and storage facilities. However, they will continue to be governed by the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 1993 and must provide:

• Facilities for the installation of cooking equipment
• Facilities for the hygienic storage of food.