Repairs responsibilities

Landlord Regulatory Requirements

All social housing landlords are regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing which sets a series of requirements; these are called the Regulatory Standards.

The Regulatory Standard for repairs is the Safety and Quality Standard – ensuring that social housing landlords maintain properties and carry out their repairing responsibilities.

Landlord responsibilities

All social housing landlords have a duty to maintain the communal areas in their buildings and grounds. Where a landlord does not properly maintain their communal areas residents have rights to complain and challenge the failure to properly maintain these areas.

What is a landlord responsible for maintaining?

In communal areas:

• Lifts
• Door entry systems
• Outside walls, doors, gates, windows, windowsills, window catches and window frames including external painting and external decoration
• Communal water tanks and associated supply pipework
• Communal heating systems and associated supply pipework and cabling
• Communal lighting systems and associated supply cabling
• Emergency exit signage and lighting
• Communal sprinkler and firefighting equipment
• Bin chutes, hoppers and storage chambers
• Grounds, hedges and trees
• Pathways, steps or other means of access
• Boundary walls and fences
• Paving and access roads that do not form part of the public highway
• Play areas
• Garage and storeshed blocks
• Communal bin storage facilities
• Car parking facilities

Leaseholder responsibilities

What is a leaseholder responsible for repairing?

• Installations for the supply of water, gas and electricity, sanitation and heating including; basins, sinks, baths, shower attachments, WCs, water pipes, waste pipes, electric wiring including sockets and switches, central heating systems, radiators, boilers, immersion heaters and valves
• Kitchen units and built-in cupboards
• Internal walls, floors (including floor coverings) and ceilings, doors and frames, door hinges and skirting boards
• Internal drainage systems excluding stack pipes
• Plaster work (excluding minor repairs which would normally be dealt with during internal decoration)
• Boundary walls and fences
• Broken window glass
• Replacing door furniture and toilet roll holders