Your Right To A Safe Home In Good Repair
This one right sits underneath most of the others. A home you rent has to be safe, and it has to be fit to live in, for the whole tenancy and not just on the day you moved in.
It comes from several different laws, which is why the answer to "is my landlord allowed to leave it like this" is so often yes on one reading and no on another.
The short version
- Fit for human habitation, throughout the tenancy. Not just at the start.
- Structure, heating, water, gas and electrics are the landlord's and cannot be signed away.
- Damp and mould now have statutory timescales under Awaab's Law.
- The council enforces this for free, and it's the fastest route.
Where the right comes from
Four things stacked on top of each other.
Section 11, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. Your landlord must keep in repair the structure and exterior, and the installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation, space heating and heating water. This is implied into your tenancy and cannot be contracted out of, whatever the agreement says.
Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018. The property must be fit to live in at the start and remain so throughout. This is broader than repair: a home can be in perfect repair and still unfit, for example if it's so badly ventilated it grows mould or so cold it can't be heated. You can take a landlord to court directly under this, without going through the council.
The Housing Health and Safety Rating System. How councils assess hazards, across 29 categories including damp, excess cold, falls, fire and electrical safety. Category 1 hazards trigger a duty to act.
Awaab's Law. Statutory timescales for damp and mould, and for emergency hazards.
What must be safe, specifically
- Gas. An annual safety check by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and you must be given a copy of the certificate within 28 days, or before you move in.
- Electrics. An inspection at least every five years, with a report you're entitled to see.
- Smoke alarms on every storey with a living room, and carbon monoxide alarms in any room with a fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker. Working on the day the tenancy starts. Whose job are the batteries.
- Furniture supplied by the landlord must meet fire safety regulations.
- Water. A legionella risk assessment, and no risk to the supply.
- Fire safety in an HMO, including escape routes, alarms and often fire doors. Your rights in a shared house.
Missing a gas safety certificate is not paperwork. It's a criminal matter, and it also blocks certain possession routes.
What "good state of repair" covers
Theirs, and not negotiable:
- Roof, walls, foundations, floors, windows and external doors
- Gutters, drains and external pipes
- Boilers, radiators and hot water systems
- Basins, baths, sinks and toilets
- Electrical wiring, sockets and light fittings
- Gas pipes and appliances they supplied
- Damp caused by any structural failure
- Anything in the common parts of a block
Usually yours:
- Light bulbs and, in most agreements, alarm batteries
- Blocked drains you caused
- Damage caused by you or your guests
- Ventilating properly and using the extractor fans
- Your own furniture and appliances
- The garden, if your agreement says so
The grey area: the washing machine, oven, fridge and other appliances. Section 11 doesn't cover them, so it depends entirely on what your agreement says. Check before you need to. What your landlord must fix.
Damp and mould, and Awaab's Law
The area where the law has moved most.
Government guidance is unambiguous that it is "totally unreasonable to blame damp and mould in the home on 'lifestyle choices'", and identifies the real causes as building deficiencies, inadequate ventilation, inadequate heating and poor energy efficiency.
Awaab's Law sets statutory timescales for investigating and acting on damp and mould, and for emergency hazards. When you report it, do it in writing, with dated photographs, and say who lives in the property, because household vulnerability affects urgency.
Damp and mould in a rented property.
How to enforce it
- Report in writing, with photographs and dates. Say what it is, where it is, and what risk it poses to who.
- Give a reasonable deadline, and follow up in writing when it passes.
- Go to the council. Environmental health will inspect under the hazard rating system and can serve enforcement notices. Free, and generally the fastest thing available.
- Court, under the Fitness for Human Habitation Act, for an order requiring the work and damages. Legal aid is available for serious disrepair.
- Rent repayment order at the tribunal, where an offence such as operating an unlicensed HMO has been committed. Up to twelve months' rent.
Access, and the thing that used to stop people
Your landlord needs 24 hours' written notice at a reasonable time to inspect or carry out repairs, except in a genuine emergency. Unreasonably refusing access can undermine a disrepair claim, so be sensible about arranging it.
And the reason most disrepair went unreported for years was retaliation. Section 21 no-fault eviction was abolished on 1 May 2026, so a landlord can no longer answer a repair request with a two-month notice. They need a ground and have to prove it. What the Act changed.
Before you sign
Much easier to check than to fix.
At the viewing: run the taps, look under the sink, check the boiler's age and whether it's serviced, look for mould around windows and in corners, ask about the EPC rating, and ask to see the gas safety certificate and electrical report. A landlord who can produce both immediately is a landlord who keeps on top of things.
Finding a good rented property.
The honest summary
The property must be safe and fit to live in for the whole tenancy, not just at the start, and the core obligations cannot be signed away.
Report in writing with photographs, say who's at risk, and go to environmental health if nothing happens. It's free and it works.
And review the property and the landlord when you leave. Whether a home was actually warm, dry and safe is the thing a listing never says and the next tenant most needs to know.
This guide covers England and reflects the position at August 2026. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland differ. General information rather than legal advice. Sources: Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, section 11, GOV.UK, guide for tenants on the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, GOV.UK, private renting repairs.