Whose responsibility?
As your landlord, we have a legal duty to carry out certain repairs when these are needed. As the law changes, the responsibility for specific repairs may also change. This means that there may be times when we have carried out certain repairs in the past, but because of changes in the law, a specific repair may become your responsibility, or vice versa.
We expect that as time passes, normal wear and tear will occur to your home. However, should your home need a repair because of either neglect or damage either by you or your friends or family, we will expect you to carry out any necessary repairs. If a repair is needed because of your neglect or damage, we may give you notice to make good, and in some cases we may carry out the repair on your behalf and then charge you for the cost. There may however, be some occasions when we will carry out a repair for which we are not generally responsible. This will usually depend on your circumstances, and these are known as discretionary repairs.
Your responsibilities
- You are responsible for keeping your home in a reasonable condition, attempting to solve minor problems and for insuring the contents of your home.
- You are expected to take reasonable precautions to prevent damage to the property by fire, frost, the bursting of water pipes or the blocking of drains and sinks.
- We rely on you to report any faults promptly and to provide access to our contractors to ensure that the repair can be undertaken within our agreed timescales.
- Finally, remember that someone else will be moving into your home if you ever decide to leave. Please make sure that the property is clean, tidy, reasonably decorated and that all your unwanted belongings have been cleared, including any in the roof space.
Our obligation
- We are obliged to keep the structure and exterior of your home and the building in which it is situated in good repair.
- We also undertake to keep in good repair and proper working order installations for the supply of water, gas and electricity, for sanitation and for room and water heating.
- In the case of flats and maisonettes, we will take reasonable care to keep common entrances, halls, stairways, lifts, passageways, rubbish chutes and any other common parts in reasonable repair.
For more information view the table of responsibilities here.