Repairs
If you are a lodger, living in temporary accommodation or have a licence agreement rather than a tenancy, the information in this section does not apply to you.
Freeholder responsibilities
If you live in a block of flats, your landlord is responsible for carrying out repairs and maintenance in your flat, but the freeholder is responsible for the lifts, communal areas, the overall safety of the building and sometimes for managing the estate too.
Almost all flats are owned on a leasehold basis – a kind of long-term rental agreement. The freeholder owns the block itself. In some cases, freeholders are housing associations or the council’s Housing Department – for example if you are renting an ex-council flat. Sometimes the leaseholders can own a proportion of the freehold. Sometimes a freeholder appoints a block management company to oversee the day to day management of the block.
You can check who owns any property and who is their mortgage provider for just £3 at the Land Registry.
Although a lot of the issues between leaseholders and freeholders are not matters that the council can help with, the council can assess the safety of the common parts of blocks and where necessary require the freeholder to carry out repairs. An example of this would be making sure external cladding on privately-owned blocks are safe. Even when the council gets involved in common part issues of blocks of flats it is likely that the freeholder will look to the leaseholders to fund the works.
Further advice and information can be found on the governments guide to leasehold property.
Revenge evictions (also known as retaliatory evictions)
Sadly, some landlords start legal action to evict their tenants if they ask for repairs. This is called retaliatory or revenge evictions. The government have put in place measures to try and stop this happening under the Deregulation Act 2015 and if you follow a certain process you can get certain protections from this type of action by:
- reporting your concerns to your landlord or managing in writing;
- giving your landlord or managing agent 14 days to respond;
- informing the council, if they don’t respond or their response doesn’t address your worries.
If as a result of the council’s involvement we take action in the form of a notice requiring works, then the landlord cannot evict you using section 21 eviction powers.
If your tenancy started or was renewed on or after 1 October 2015, you have some legal protection from eviction after reporting repairs. Get advice on revenge evictions if you reported repairs and your landlord has told you to leave – or if you are worried they might.
If your landlord seeks to evict you without taking legal proceedings, they may be committing a criminal offence.