Student tenants and housing disrepair: your rights

Students hold the same legal protection as any other private tenant. No landlord can run a student house to a lower standard. Damp, mould, broken heating or other disrepair gives you the right to repairs. A landlord who fails to act may owe you money.

This guide covers the key things students need to know.

You have the same rights as any other tenant

Your tenancy carries the same landlord duties as any other private letting. The law sets no lower bar for student housing.

Under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, your landlord must:

• Keep the structure and exterior in repair
• Keep the heating and hot water systems in working order
• Keep the drainage, water, and sanitation in working order

Under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, the property must be fit to live in throughout your tenancy.

HMOs: the most common student housing type

Most student houses are Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs), which carry extra rules. Five or more people forming two or more households means the house needs a council HMO licence. Letting without one breaks the law.

HMO standards also cover:

• Minimum room sizes
• Enough bathroom and kitchen space for the household
• Fire safety: smoke alarms, fire doors, escape routes
• Shared areas kept clean and safe

An HMO landlord ignoring the standards can face council inspection and enforcement.

Joint tenancies and disrepair

Most student houses run on a joint tenancy: every housemate on one agreement. You all share the right to ask for repairs. One of you can report for everyone. And if the landlord fails to act, any or all of you can claim.

Housemates who want no part of it need not block you: ask us how joint-tenancy claims work.

Common student housing problems

The most commonly reported issues in student housing are:

• Damp and mould: poor insulation, weak heating or structural faults, common in older terraces converted for students
• Broken boilers and no heating: worst in winter terms
• Pests: mice and rats thrive in subdivided houses with gaps in the structure
• Electrical trouble: overloaded circuits, old wiring, cracked sockets
• Fire safety failures: dead or missing smoke alarms, propped or broken fire doors, no escape route
• Structural problems: leaking roofs, damp through walls, windows or doors that will not lock

Landlord intimidation and end-of-tenancy tactics

Some landlords wave poor references or deposit rows at students to head off complaints. Know this:

• Complaining is your legal right. No landlord can lawfully evict you for reporting disrepair. With Section 21 abolished by the Renters' Rights Act 2025, eviction needs a proven legal ground, and a ground used as cover for punishment can be challenged at the hearing.
• Your deposit is protected. The law puts it in a government-backed scheme: Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits, or Tenancy Deposit Scheme. No landlord can just keep it; the scheme's dispute process decides.
• References. A bad reference given as payback for a genuine repair complaint may itself be unlawful.

What to do if your landlord is ignoring repairs

1. Report in writing: email or the portal, so written evidence exists.
2. Give fair time: short for serious problems, no heating, no hot water, structural risk; a few weeks for the rest.
3. Follow up in writing: repeat the problem, set a response date.
4. Contact environmental health: the council can inspect HMOs and serve improvement or prohibition notices.
5. Contact us: we check whether you may have a claim and refer suitable matters to an SRA-regulated panel solicitor.

Can you claim even during an active tenancy?

Yes. No need to wait for move-out day: a claim can run while you still live there, and acting in place often produces the strongest evidence.

Fixed-term tenancies ending in summer

Student tenancies often run July to July. Repairs the landlord failed on can still ground a claim after you leave, inside the time limit: usually 6 years for contract claims, 3 for personal injury. A finished tenancy does not mean a lost right.

When should I contact Support for Tenants?

A student in a property with disrepair the landlord has not fixed? Call us on 0800 030 4669.

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.

Sources

• Section 11, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)

Related articles

• What is Section 11?
• Can I claim housing disrepair after I have moved out?
• What evidence do I need?