Communal areas: who is responsible for repairs?

In short

Communal areas are the shared spaces in a block or estate: stairwells, lifts, corridors, entrance lobbies, bin stores, car parks. The law makes your landlord keep them in reasonable repair. Broken or unsafe shared areas touching your home or safety? You have the right to report, and to escalate when nothing happens. Call us free on 0800 030 4669 if you need help.

What counts as a communal area?

Communal areas include:

• Stairwells, landings, and internal corridors
• Lifts
• Entrance lobbies and shared entrance doors
• Communal gardens and outside paths
• Bin stores and recycling areas
• Car parks and access roads on the landlord's land
• Roof spaces, plant rooms, and boiler rooms, where they serve several flats
• Shared lighting systems

Even a shared space you never use stays the landlord's to maintain.

Your landlord's legal duties

Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 makes landlords keep the structure and outside of a home in repair. That takes in the structure of a block, the common parts, and shared kit like drains and gutters. The duty attaches by itself to most tenancies under seven years.

The Defective Premises Act 1972 goes further. It puts a duty of care on landlords toward anyone harmed by a defect they knew of, or should have known of. Hurt on a broken shared staircase the landlord had been told about? This Act may then bite.

The Housing Health and Safety Rating System, the HHSRS, covers the common parts of buildings, not just single homes. The council can inspect shared areas and serve notices on a landlord for hazards like:

• Poor staircase lighting
• Broken or missing handrails
• Dangerous flooring
• Broken shared entrance doors that weaken security

Leasehold blocks and service charges

A leaseholder rather than a renting tenant stands slightly differently. The Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 sets duties on landlords of blocks with leaseholders. Shared repairs normally get funded through service charges.

Major works over a certain cost carry a right to be consulted. See our Section 20 consultation article. Unfair service charges can be fought at the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).

Broken lifts: a specific duty

A broken lift is no small bother. For upper floors, or anyone with mobility problems, it can leave the home all but unreachable.

Lifts must be repaired within a reasonable time. What counts as reasonable turns on the facts. But weeks of a dead lift, with no clear repair plan, will rarely pass. Does anyone in your home lean on the lift for a disability or medical condition? Say so plainly, in writing, when reporting the fault.

What to do

1. Report the defect in writing. Name the exact shared area, describe the problem plainly, and add dated photos.
2. Put a timescale in the request. Something like: "Please confirm what repair you plan and when."
3. Chase in writing where no answer comes within a fair period: usually 14 days for non-urgent issues, sooner for safety hazards.
4. Contact the council's environmental health team where the landlord sits still. They can inspect under the HHSRS, and a hazard found gives them powers to force action.
5. Contact a housing charity or law centre where you are a leaseholder and the management company stays silent. The First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) also handles service charge rows and management failures.

Where we fit in

Support for Tenants helps with housing disrepair claims. A shared-area defect may tie to your home's condition: damp through a shared wall, say. Or a shared defect the landlord ignored may have hurt you. Either way, a claim may stand. No upfront cost.

You only pay if you win, and the fee comes out of the compensation, not your pocket. If you don't win, you pay nothing. Call us free on 0800 030 4669, send the short form, or message us on WhatsApp. See also broken lift in my block and where to get other housing help.

Sources

• Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Section 11 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Defective Premises Act 1972 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Housing Health and Safety Rating System Regulations 2005 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)