What are your rights as a tenant? Landlord obligations under UK law

In short

Renting your home gives you clear legal rights, but England and Wales use different systems. In England, section 11 and fitness law apply, with Awaab's Law deadlines for social housing. In Wales, Part 4 of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 covers repair and fitness duties.

Reported a problem in writing, and watched weeks or months pass with nothing done? Three routes run in order. Complain in writing. Ask the council to inspect. And where the disrepair caused you harm, make a housing disrepair claim. This page explains each right in plain English.

Key facts

• The 2024 to 2025 English Housing Survey found about 9% of homes in England, around 2.3 million, had a category 1 (most serious) hazard under the HHSRS. In the private rented sector the figure was 10%. English Housing Survey 2024-25, GOV.UK
• The same survey found about 15% of homes in England, around 4.0 million, did not meet the Decent Homes Standard. In the private rented sector the figure was 22%. English Housing Survey 2024-25, GOV.UK

Your landlord's main legal duties

The following sections describe the English system. Welsh contract-holders should use the separate section below.

Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985

The long-standing baseline. Section 11 makes the landlord keep in repair:

• The structure and outside of the home: walls, roof, windows, outside doors, gutters, drains
• The installations for water, gas, electricity and sanitation: pipes, wiring, basins, baths, toilets
• The installations for heating and hot water: boilers, radiators, hot water cylinders

It covers nearly every tenancy under seven years. These rights cannot be signed away: a clause saying "tenant responsible for the boiler" overrides nothing in Section 11.

The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018

This Act amends the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. It covers all rented homes in England, social and private. The home must be fit for human habitation at the start of the tenancy and all through it. "Fit" means free of Category 1 hazards under the HHSRS rating system. Think serious damp and mould, dangerous wiring, broken heating in winter, structural problems, pest infestations.

An unfit home can go straight to court. The council never needs involving first.

Awaab's Law (social tenants only, in force 27 October 2025)

Awaab's Law sets fixed deadlines for social landlords, councils and housing associations, dealing with serious hazards.

• Emergency hazards, anything posing an immediate risk to health or safety: the landlord must investigate within 24 hours and make the home safe as soon as practicable.
• Significant hazards, damp, mould and other serious risks: the landlord must investigate within 10 working days. The safety work must be complete within 5 working days of the investigation ending. A written summary of the findings must arrive within 3 working days, running alongside.

Awaab's Law currently covers the social rented sector only. Private tenants lean on Section 11 and the Fitness for Human Habitation Act. The law allows the deadlines to be extended to private landlords later, with the timetable still to be confirmed.

Wales: Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016

Wales has a separate occupation-contract system. Under Part 4 of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, a landlord must keep the structure, exterior and key installations in repair and keep the home fit for human habitation. Awaab's Law and the English repair Acts described above do not apply in Wales. Use the landlord's complaints process first; after its final response, a social-housing contract-holder can complain to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales for free.

What counts as a "reasonable time" for repairs?

Non-emergency repairs in the private sector run on a "reasonable time" test. No single number fits every case, but courts and councils generally start from:

• Heating or hot water lost in winter: same day or next
• A major leak, dangerous wiring, a dangerous gas appliance: within 24 hours
• Damp and mould touching health: a few weeks to investigate, then a clear repair plan
• Other serious repairs, broken windows, doors, kitchen units: one to three months from the report

A landlord three months past a written report with nothing done sits almost always outside what is reasonable.

What to do if your landlord ignores you

Use these steps in order. Each one strengthens the next, and the written record you build at each stage is what makes the next step work.

1. Put it in writing. Email or letter. Describe the problem plainly, say when it started, attach photos or short videos where you can, and ask for a fix within a reasonable time. Keep a copy. This is the single most important step: spoken complaints are easy to deny later.

2. Send a formal complaint. Two to four weeks with no real action means the official complaints procedure. Social tenants in England run the internal two-stage process, then the Housing Ombudsman at no cost. Social-housing contract-holders in Wales use the landlord's complaints process, then the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales after the final response. Private tenants may have a redress route through their letting agent's scheme.

3. Ask the council to inspect. The environmental health team can inspect under the HHSRS rating system and serve an improvement notice. The notice binds legally, and ignoring it is a criminal offence.

4. Get advice on a claim. A complaint pressures the landlord. A claim does more: it asks the court to order the repairs, and to award compensation for the time lived with the disrepair and the harm done.

Complaint or claim, what is the difference?

A complaint is an internal or regulatory process. Free, informal, and usually ending in an apology, an action plan, or in serious cases an ombudsman's decision. It can run many months.

A claim is a civil court case run by a solicitor. It can seek repairs and compensation where the facts and law support those remedies. A complaint and a claim can sometimes run side by side because they do different jobs. 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.

A short note on retaliatory eviction

Some tenants fear complaining will bring eviction. The law protects you. The Deregulation Act 2015 made a Section 21 notice invalid where the council had served an improvement notice in the prior six months. Then the Renters' Rights Act 2025 went further. It ended Section 21 no-fault evictions altogether. Asking for repairs is your right.

When should I contact Support for Tenants?

Reported disrepair in writing, with nothing put right in a reasonable time, usually three months or more? 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.

You can also start your claim online and we will come back to you within one working day.

Related articles

• What is Awaab's Law in plain English?
• What is the Fitness for Human Habitation Act?
• How to request an HHSRS inspection
• How to make a formal complaint to your landlord
• Housing improvement notice, what it means for tenants