Maintenance and Repairs: Landlord Response Guide

Maintenance is not a "nice to have". Section 11 LTA 1985 and Awaab's Law now mean you have hard deadlines as well as basic repair duties. Ignore them and you are lining yourself up for claims, council action and serious cost.

1. Your legal repair duty: what you must fix

Section 11 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 implies a non-excludable term into almost every AST / assured tenancy:

You must:

Keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling:

Roof, gutters, downpipes, drains.

External and internal walls and plaster.

Windows, doors, frames, staircases, bannisters.

Keep in repair and proper working order the installations for:

Water, gas, electricity.

Space heating and hot water.

Basins, sinks, baths, toilets and other sanitary ware.

Key points:

You cannot contract out of s11 or pass these duties onto the tenant in the tenancy agreement; any attempt is void.

Your duty kicks in when:

The tenant reports the issue to you, or

You spot it on inspection.

"Repair" vs "improvement"

Repair = restoring something to its previous condition, not upgrading beyond what was there.

Replace broken boiler like for like = repair.

Installing a brand new second bathroom where none existed = improvement.

You are not obliged to improve for free, but in practice upgrades often make sense (better EPC, fewer callouts).

2. Emergency vs urgent vs routine repairs

You need a triage system so you respond fast enough to stay on the right side of both s11 and new safety expectations.

A sensible 2026 framework:

Emergency (aim to respond within 24 hours)

Gas leak or suspected leak.

Significant active flooding / major leak.

Total loss of power not due to supplier fault.

No heating or hot water in winter, especially for vulnerable tenants.

Dangerous electrics, live exposed wiring.

Urgent (aim to attend within 48 hours and plan fix)

Boiler failure in summer.

Leaking roof or serious penetrating damp.

Broken external lock / door affecting security.

Partial power issues or non-functioning essential appliance you have provided (for example cooker).

Routine (schedule within 14-28 days)

Dripping taps, minor leaks caught in time.

Worn sealant, cracked tiles.

Loose fittings, non-urgent joinery and cosmetic works.

Courts and ombudsmen look at whether you responded promptly and proportionately once you were on notice, not whether you fixed a minor scratch in 48 hours.

3. Awaab's Law and Renters' Rights: new timeframes

Awaab's Law, brought in after the Rochdale case, is now in force for social landlords and being extended to the PRS via the Renters' Rights Act:

For social housing from October 2025 the core expectations are:

Investigate reports of dangerous damp/mould within around 10 working days.

Make safe / start repairs for serious hazards within 5 working days after inspection.

Fix emergency hazards within 24 hours.

PRS extension:

Government's Renters' Rights roadmap confirms Awaab's Law will be extended to the private rented sector via regulations under Phase 3, setting legally enforceable timeframes for serious hazards (damp/mould, structural, excess cold/heat, electrical, fire etc) from 1 May 2026, with detailed timescales subject to consultation.

Until the final PRS regulations land, best practice is to adopt at least social-housing-level standards now:

Acknowledge within 24 hours.

Inspect within 7-10 days for serious issues; sooner for emergencies.

Begin works within 5-14 days depending on severity, with 24-hour action for anything immediately hazardous.

Local councils are also getting stronger investigatory powers and can inspect, demand documents and penalise non-compliance from December 2025.

4. Contractor management and record keeping

Finding and using contractors

Build a small panel of reliable, properly insured trades: gas safe engineers, qualified electricians, roofers, plumbers, general builders.

For non-emergency work:

Get 2-3 quotes to keep costs under control.

Balance price against reliability and speed; cheap and flaky is not a saving.

Ask for: proof of qualifications, insurance, references.

Avoid cash-only, no-paperwork operators; they give you nothing to show a council, court or insurer.

Record keeping

Create a simple repairs log with:

Date issue reported and by whom.

Description of problem (ideally copy from tenant's email).

Risk level (emergency/urgent/routine).

Date you acknowledged and inspected.

Contractor instructed, quote, and completion date.

Cost and any photos before/after.

Section 11 disputes and damp/mould cases are often won or lost on documentation; a tidy log shows you acted reasonably and on time.

5. Tenant duties, insurance and forum myths

Tenant obligations

Tenants must:

Report issues promptly.

Allow access for inspections and repairs with 24-hour notice (except emergencies).

Use the property in a tenant-like manner (not cause wilful damage, not ignore condensation guidance, not block drains with misuse).

If damage is clearly their fault (smashed window, burned worktop, blocked loo from improper use), you can charge them or claim from deposit at the end, but you still fix it promptly -- you do not leave hazards as punishment.

Insurance

For major issues:

Check if the problem is covered by your buildings insurance (escape of water, storm, impact, subsidence).

Consider:

Excess vs expected claim amount.

How a claim will affect future premiums and excess.

You still have to meet s11 and Awaab's timelines regardless of insurance. The claim can run in the background; you cannot wait for the insurer before making the property safe.

What forums get wrong

"I'll wait until the tenant moves out to fix that."

Section 11 and Awaab's Law do not pause because you want to batch repairs. Damp, mould, leaks and broken heating have to be acted on quickly; waiting is how you get disrepair claims, rent repayment orders and council enforcement.

"Condensation mould is always the tenant's fault, so I can ignore it."

Awaab's Law and HHSRS treat dangerous damp and mould as a landlord's responsibility to investigate and remedy, even if lifestyle contributes. You can educate and manage tenant behaviour, but you cannot simply dismiss it as their problem.

"If they don't report it, I'm in the clear."

Once you know or ought reasonably to know about a defect (from inspections, neighbour reports, visible external issues), you are on the hook. Regular inspections and logs are part of discharging your duty, not optional extras.

For PropertyKiln, the honest stance is:

In 2026, maintenance is not just about avoiding bad reviews. Section 11 and Awaab's Law give councils, courts and ombudsmen clear hooks to penalise slow or sloppy repairs. If you treat every report like a small claims case waiting to happen -- triage it, document it, fix it -- you will stay on the right side of both the law and your own sanity.

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