Landlord Rights
Every landlord has the right:
- To charge a market rent.
- To agree the terms of the tenancy before it begins.
- To receive rent when it is due.
- To be advised of necessary repairs.
- To be given proper notice by a tenant if they wish to leave.
Landlord Responsibilities
Landlords have a certain responsibility to maintain certain standards within the property. In general, they will be responsible for major repairs to the structure and installations, while you will be responsible for minor interior repairs and decoration. The Tenancy Agreement should set out who is responsible for what repairs.
Your landlord must make sure that your home reaches a basic standard of repair. This is called the 'Repairing Standard'.
In order to meet the repairing standard:
- the property must be wind, watertight and adequately insulated;
- the property must be fit for you to live in (i.e. above the ‘tolerable standard')
- the structure and exterior of the property (for example, the walls and roof) must be in a reasonable condition ;
- the installations for the supply of water, gas, electricity, and for sanitation, space heating and heating water must be in a reasonable state of repair and in proper working order (these include external installations such as drains);
- any fixtures, fittings or appliances provided by the landlord (such as carpets, light fittings, white goods and household equipment) must be in a reasonable state of repair and in proper working order;
- any furnishings provided by the landlord must be capable of being used safely for the purpose for which they are designed;
- the property must have suitable smoke detectors - there should be at least one smoke detector on each floor of the property (mains powered if installed after September 2007).
If your home doesn't reach this standard and your landlord refuses to carry out the necessary work, you can report them to the Private Rented Housing Panel (PRHP).
If you're moving into a new home, your landlord must make sure that the property meets this standard before you move in. If it does not, and they need to carry out repair work to bring it up to this standard, they must let you know about this before your tenancy starts.
Landlords have a legal duty to ensure that their premises and appliances are safe. They are required to carry out annual checks on gas installations and electrical appliances. Appliances (e.g. gas fires) can produce dangerous fumes if they have not been fitted properly or serviced regularly. Legally, electrical equipment, which is hired as part of the tenancy agreement, must be safe to use e.g. lamps, televisions, vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, portable electric fires, etc. It is also the landlord’s responsibility to make sure that all upholstered furniture, furnishing, etc comply with fire regulations.
It is strongly recommended that landlords employ the services of a qualified surveyor to carry out a full inspection and produce a report on the overall condition of a house before letting it in the first instance.
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