Tenant Rights When the Landlord Won’t Fix a Leak

Stop the damage first, whatever the landlord does

Your rights do not depend on the landlord replying, and neither does the water. If it is still running, find the stopcock, usually under the kitchen sink, in a hallway cupboard or where the pipe comes up through the floor, and turn it clockwise until it stops. For a leak from one tap, toilet or appliance, the small isolation valve on its pipe is quicker: a quarter turn with a flat screwdriver. See how to turn off the stopcock if it is stiff.

If water has reached a light fitting, sockets or the consumer unit, switch off at the consumer unit only if you can reach it with dry hands, standing on a dry floor, and the unit itself is dry. Do not use the affected switches. Then take photos and a short video of the leak and the damage before you move anything. They are the most useful evidence you will ever have.

Tenants are expected to act sensibly to limit damage. Turning off the water and catching drips is part of that, and doing it does not make the repair your responsibility.

A bulging ceiling is holding water and can come down in one piece. Keep everyone out of the room underneath it.

Report it in a way that counts

The landlord’s legal duty to repair only starts once they or their agent know about the problem. A phone call is fine at night, but follow it with an email, text or the agent’s repair portal so there is a dated record. Include:

• What is leaking, where, and when you first noticed it
• Whether you have been able to stop it, and what you had to turn off to do so
• What the leak has affected: ceiling, flooring, electrics, your belongings
• Photos and video, plus any damp or mould appearing
• When you are available to give access, and a request for a date

How long does a landlord have to fix a leak?

For private tenants the law says a reasonable time, not a set number of days. What is reasonable depends on how serious the leak is. Water you cannot stop, a leak into electrics, or the loss of your only toilet or your water supply is an emergency that needs a response the same day. A slow drip under a sink that you have caught in a bowl can reasonably wait a few days, as long as someone is booked in.

If you rent from a council or housing association, Awaab’s Law has required social landlords in England since October 2025 to investigate and make safe emergency hazards within 24 hours. Private tenants do not yet have fixed timescales: the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 allows Awaab’s Law to be extended to private renting, but no start date has been set.

If the leak has left you without heating or hot water, see your rights with no hot water. If the water is coming from the flat above, who pays for a leak from upstairs covers the extra party involved.

Can I get it fixed myself and take it off the rent?

Sometimes, but it is the riskiest route and easy to get wrong. The courts recognise a right for tenants to set the reasonable cost of a repair the landlord should have done against future rent. To rely on it you need to have reported the problem, given the landlord a reasonable chance to act, warned them in writing that you will arrange the repair and deduct the cost, and got quotes so you can show the price was reasonable. Keep every invoice.

If you skip those steps, the landlord can treat the deduction as rent arrears, and arrears are a ground for possession. Speak to Shelter or Citizens Advice before you withhold anything.

A true emergency is different. If water is pouring through and neither the landlord nor the agent’s out-of-hours line answers, getting a plumber to make it safe is reasonable. Keep the job to the make-safe, get an invoice that states the cause, and send it to the landlord straight away. Our emergency leak repairs work on the £60 call-out, and the repair price is agreed with you on site before any work starts, so you know the cost before you ask the landlord to reimburse it.

All of this applies to renting a home. If you rent a shop, office or restaurant, section 11 does not cover you and the lease decides who repairs what. A business tenant can usually call an emergency plumber for commercial premises straight away to stop the water, then pass the invoice to the landlord if the lease puts that repair on them.

Getting the council involved

If a private landlord ignores repeated written requests, contact your council’s private sector housing or environmental health team. They can inspect under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System in the Housing Act 2004 and, where they find a serious hazard such as damp and mould from a long-running leak, serve an improvement notice. Ignoring one is a criminal offence.

Council and housing association tenants should use the landlord’s complaints procedure first, then take an unresolved complaint to the Housing Ombudsman.

Taking your landlord to court

You can claim for a repair order and compensation for your inconvenience and damaged belongings under section 11, or under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 where the leak has made the home unfit to live in. Before issuing, you are expected to follow the Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Conditions Claims, which starts with a letter of claim to the landlord and gives them time to respond.

Where the repairs and the compensation are each worth £1,000 or less, the claim goes through the small claims track, which is cheap to bring. Larger claims carry more cost risk, so take advice first. Legal aid may be available where the disrepair poses a serious risk to your health, which a Shelter or Citizens Advice adviser can check with you.

Can my landlord evict me for complaining? What the Renters’ Rights Act changes

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 became law on 27 October 2025 and is being brought in in phases. The first phase started on 1 May 2026. Since then a private landlord in England cannot give you a section 21 no-fault eviction notice, and assured shorthold tenancies have become assured periodic tenancies. A section 21 notice served before that date had to be followed by court proceedings by 31 July 2026 at the latest.

A landlord who wants you to leave now has to give a section 8 notice and rely on one of the legal grounds for possession. Asking for a repair is not one of them, which removes the old fear of a revenge notice after a complaint. Rent arrears are a ground, which is the main reason to keep paying rent in full while you chase the repair. If you are already in court on an older section 21 notice that followed a council improvement notice or emergency works notice, get advice from Shelter, because that notice can be a defence.

Two changes that matter for repairs have not started for private renters. Awaab’s Law will be extended to private renting, but the government’s implementation roadmap lists it in phase three with timing to be confirmed after consultation, and no start date has been announced. For social tenants it already applies, and from 30 November 2026 it is due to cover more hazards, including excess cold. The new Decent Homes Standard is expected to apply to private rentals from 2035. Until then the section 11 duty and the council’s powers above are the tools you have.

For the landlord’s side of the same situation, see what landlords must do in a plumbing emergency.