Landlord repair responsibilities: boilers, heating and how long repairs take

What you are responsible for

• Looking after the home in a “tenant-like manner”: small jobs like changing light bulbs and smoke alarm batteries, keeping any garden in a reasonable state, and ventilating to help prevent condensation.
• Damage you, your family or your guests cause, such as a toilet blocked by flushing nappies, or a neighbour’s flat flooded by an overflowing bath. Normal wear and tear is not your problem.
• Your own belongings and appliances. A landlord-supplied fridge or washing machine is only theirs to fix if your agreement says so.
• Reporting problems promptly, and anything that could harm health straight away. You may be held responsible if damage gets worse because you didn’t tell them.
• Letting the landlord in at reasonable times to inspect, with 24 hours’ written notice, and to do repairs.

You only do repairs yourself if your agreement allows it, and you can’t be made to do the landlord’s.

How long a landlord has to do repairs

There is no fixed deadline in law for private landlords in England, for a boiler or anything else, only a reasonable time from when they find out. That depends on how serious the problem is, who lives in the home and, for heating, the time of year. As a rough guide, not set in law:

• Emergencies: a gas leak, no heating or hot water in cold weather, a major leak or dangerous electrics. As fast as possible: Shelter says that for a broken boiler in winter, 24 hours could be reasonable.
• Urgent: things that make the home hard to live in or will get worse fast, such as a leaking roof or a toilet that won’t work when it is the only one.
• Routine: things that are a nuisance but not a risk, like a sticking door or a dripping tap. Longer, but the landlord should still tell you when to expect it.

Awaab’s Law deadlines don’t cover private renting yet

Fixed deadlines exist for council and housing association homes under Awaab’s Law, including 24 hours to make an emergency hazard safe. For private renting they are only a proposal: the government’s consultation on extending Awaab’s Law opened on 9 October 2026 and closes at 11.59pm on 18 December 2026, and no start date has been set. Where Awaab’s Law stands.

No heating or hot water: what to do now

• If you smell gas or think there is carbon monoxide, get into fresh air and call the gas emergency line on 0800 111 999 (free, 24 hours) straight away.
• Phone your landlord or agent straight away, then put it in writing the same day: what has failed, who in the home is vulnerable, and when you can let an engineer in.
• Ask for portable heaters, a water heater or electric blankets in the meantime, and for a rent reduction if they cost more to run. Get any agreement in writing.
• Note indoor temperatures, extra costs and any effect on health, for the council or a compensation claim.

Shelter on heating and hot water problems.

Gas safety

If there is gas, the landlord must have every appliance and flue checked each year by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and give you the record before you move in or within 28 days of each check. How to check the gas safety record.

How to report a repair

• Write to your landlord, or to the letting agent if they manage the home. Email or text is fine; it gives you a dated record.
• Say what is wrong, when it started, any damage or effect on health, and ask when the work will be done. Add dated photos.
• Keep every message, and note the date of each call and visit.
• If nothing happens, write again: remind them of their duty, suggest dates for the work and give a deadline to reply.

Shelter has a free repair request letter template. If an agent doesn’t act, contact the landlord directly too.

If your landlord won’t do repairs

GOV.UK’s complaints route is your landlord, then a “designated person” (your MP, a councillor or a tenant panel), then the council. For disrepair, you can go straight to the council’s private housing or environmental health team (find your council) and ask for an inspection under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). Send copies of your letters to the landlord.

Excess cold is one of the hazards the council assesses. A hazard scoring 1,000 or more is category 1, and the council must then act. It can use:

• a hazard awareness notice, telling the landlord about the problem
• an improvement notice, ordering specific work within a set time
• a prohibition order, stopping use of all or part of the home
• emergency remedial action, where there is an immediate risk of serious harm from a category 1 hazard: the council does the work itself and charges the landlord

Since 22 June 2026, councils can also fine a private landlord up to £7,000 over a category 1 hazard; the government gave freezing conditions as an example. Ignoring an improvement notice is an offence, and you may then be able to claim back rent through a rent repayment order.

A landlord ombudsman for private renters is planned but not running yet. What it will do, and when. The new Decent Homes Standard is also still to come for private renting.

Compensation and disrepair claims

If your landlord knew about a repair and didn’t fix it in a reasonable time, you can ask for compensation, first in writing and then in the county court. It can cover inconvenience, damaged belongings, ill health and extra costs such as higher energy bills. Under the fitness duty, the court can also order the work and sometimes make the landlord pay your legal costs.

Shelter says you usually have up to six years to claim, or three for personal injury, counted from when the work should have been done. You can claim after you move out, as long as you reported the problem during the tenancy. Shelter on compensation for disrepair.

Protection from eviction for complaining

Since 1 May 2026 a private landlord can’t use section 21 to end your tenancy without a reason. They need a section 8 notice on a legal ground, proved in court if you stay, and asking for repairs is not one. Keep paying rent, so you don’t hand them one. What changed when section 21 went.

A landlord who harasses you, cuts off the heating or water to make you leave, or changes the locks is breaking the law. Illegal eviction and harassment and tenant rights in England.

Where this comes from

On legislation.gov.uk: the repairing obligations in section 11, and section 9A and section 10 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. On GOV.UK: private renting repairs, complaints, your landlord’s safety responsibilities, the fitness for human habitation guide for tenants, the HHSRS tenant guide, the £7,000 fines announcement and the consultation on extending Awaab’s Law. From Shelter: landlord and tenant responsibilities for repairs, reporting repairs, withholding rent and doing repairs yourself, compensation, revenge eviction and Shelter Legal on heating and hot water. From National Gas: the gas emergency number.

This guide covers common private tenancies in England and is general information, not legal advice. Different rules apply in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to lodgers, social housing and some specialist accommodation. RenterCheck is independent and not connected with the government.