An emergency call-out firm reported that over a quarter of a million tenants have held back from paying their rent to landlords because of maintenance and emergencies not being resolved. The most common reasons are heating problems, boiler faults and blocked drains.

According to the firm a third of all private tenants have experienced such problems in the last twelve months. 11 per cent of those who experienced delays in having issues and repairs resolved took the unprecedented step of not paying their rent. They defended their actions as they felt the landlords had taken far too long in doing anything and that this was unacceptable.

 

The research found that 34 per cent of landlords were responsible for all aspects of managing the homes in their portfolio themselves – and  32 per cent were using a managing agent.

40% of the tenants surveyed stated that all contracting of repairs and maintenance was controlled by their landlord and 20% said that all repairs were carried out by the landlords themselves. Because of this one third of the tenants could only contact their landlord during working hours to try to sort out their problems.

The list of the most common emergency call outs are:

1. Central heating fault - 15%
2. Boiler fault - 14%
3. Blocked sinks - 13%
4. Blocked drains - 10%
5. Leaking taps - 7%
6. Blocked toilets - 6%
7. Leaking pipes - 5%
8. Pest problem - 5%
9. Electrical fault - 2%
10. Other - 2%

The data was taken from a survey that was made up of 5,087 landlords and 4,000 private tenants.

Under Section 11 Repairs of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, there are a number of statutory implied terms which dictate repair obligations.

 

 

The property must be in a reasonable state of repair both internally and externally, and fit for human habitation at the start of the tenancy. There should be no dampness either in the form of rising damp, penetration from the outside, or condensation. Statutory and Common Law requires that there should be no unacceptable level of risk to the health or safety of the occupiers and their visitors.