Broken Appliance In A Rental: Who Has To Fix It?

The washing machine has died. Or the fridge is warm, or the oven only works on one setting. You report it, and either it gets fixed or you're told it isn't their problem.

Whether it is their problem depends on something most people never check, and the answer surprises a lot of tenants.

The short version

• The boiler, hot water, heating, plumbing and electrics are the landlord's job by law. No argument, whatever the agreement says.
• Freestanding appliances usually aren't. Ovens, washing machines and fridges are only the landlord's responsibility if the tenancy agreement says so.
• So the agreement is the first thing to read, not the last.
• If you broke it, you're paying either way. Fair wear and tear is one thing, misuse is another.

The distinction that decides it

Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 puts certain repairs on the landlord and you can't sign that away. It covers the structure and exterior, and the installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation, space heating and water heating.

Here's the part that catches people out. The Act specifically excludes "other fixtures, fittings and appliances for making use of the supply of water, gas or electricity."

In plain terms:

Landlord's job by law	Only if the agreement says so
Boiler and heating system	Oven and hob
Hot water system	Washing machine
Pipes, taps, sinks, baths, toilets	Fridge and freezer
Wiring, sockets, fixed lighting	Dishwasher
Radiators	Microwave, kettle, tumble dryer

So a broken boiler is unambiguous. A broken washing machine is a question about your tenancy agreement.

An electric shower sits somewhere in between and often counts as part of the water heating installation, which makes it the landlord's. Extractor fans usually count as part of the ventilation of the property. If in doubt, argue it as an installation rather than an appliance, because that's the category that carries statutory protection.

What your agreement probably says

Most decent agreements for a furnished or part-furnished let do make the landlord responsible for the appliances they supplied. It's normal, and it's the sensible arrangement, because they own the machine.

Look for wording about "the landlord's fixtures and fittings", an inventory listing the appliances, or a clause about white goods. If the appliances are on the inventory as the landlord's property, you have a strong argument they should maintain them, and a strong argument you can't be expected to replace them.

If the agreement is silent, you're in weaker territory. Our guide on why the written agreement matters covers what to look for before you sign.

Some other things that help

If it was there when you moved in and listed on the inventory, it was part of what you agreed to rent. A landlord who lets a flat advertised as having a washing machine, and then declines to replace it, has arguably given you less than the deal.

If the property becomes unfit to live in, that's a separate route. A home with no means of cooking at all, for a long period, may be unfit under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act. A dead microwave isn't. No oven, no hob and no prospect of repair for a month might be. What to do if your home is unfit covers it.

Gas appliances have separate safety duties. A landlord-supplied gas cooker must be checked annually by a Gas Safe engineer as part of the gas safety check, even though repair of it may not be their responsibility. Safety and repair are different obligations.

What to do, in order

1. Check it's actually broken

Sounds obvious, and it saves a lot of embarrassment. Fuse in the plug, the RCD in the consumer unit, the filter on the washing machine, the condenser coils on the fridge. If a landlord sends an engineer for a tripped switch, you may well get the bill.

2. Read the agreement and the inventory

Before you report it, so you know which conversation you're having.

3. Report it in writing

Email. Describe the fault, when it started, what you've already tried. Ask for a timescale. Keep the thread.

Phone calls vanish. If you do phone, follow up with "just to confirm what we discussed" in writing.

4. Give a reasonable time, then chase in writing

What's reasonable depends on what it is. No heating in December is days. A dodgy dishwasher is weeks.

5. Escalate

If the agent is unresponsive, complain formally, then to their redress scheme, which is free. If the property's condition is affected, environmental health. Our guide on what to do when a landlord won't repair sets out the routes.

Timescales

There's no single statutory list for private renting, but this is the framework councils and courts work to:

• Emergency, 24 hours. No heating or hot water in cold weather, a gas leak, dangerous electrics, major leak. What counts as an emergency repair has more.
• Urgent, around 3 to 7 days. A broken oven where it's the only means of cooking, a fridge in summer, a partial heating failure.
• Routine, around 28 days. A second appliance, a slow-draining sink, cosmetic issues.

Social landlords work to Awaab's Law timescales for hazards, which came in on 27 October 2025. That doesn't apply to private renting yet and isn't expected to before 2027, so don't cite it at a private landlord.

Should you fix it yourself?

Generally no, and definitely not gas or fixed electrical work, which needs a registered engineer by law.

Don't just get it repaired and send the bill either. There's a proper procedure for recovering repair costs and it has to be followed in order, or the deduction becomes rent arrears. We've set out the steps in can I withhold rent for repairs. Short version: report, warn, get three quotes, warn again, then act.

What you can reasonably do is basic maintenance. Cleaning filters, defrosting, descaling, changing a fuse. That's normal use and you're expected to.

What if you broke it?

Then it's yours to sort, and trying to disguise it usually costs more than owning it. Overloading a washing machine, blocking a fridge vent, cracking a hob with a dropped pan.

The line is fair wear and tear versus damage. An eight year old oven whose element has failed is wear and tear, even though it happened on your watch. A cracked door because something was slammed is not.

Age matters more than people expect. Deposit adjudicators apportion for the remaining life of an item, so you can't be charged the full price of a new machine to replace an old one. Our guide on how often things should be replaced in a rented home covers typical lifespans, and your deposit rights covers how deductions are supposed to be calculated.

While you wait

Be reasonable but keep a record. Note the launderette receipts, the extra takeaways because there's no oven, the food that spoiled when the fridge failed. If the repair drags on unreasonably you may be able to claim some of that back, or negotiate a rent reduction for the period, and you can only do that if you wrote it down at the time.

Don't stop paying rent. It converts a dispute you're winning into one you're losing.

The honest summary

Heating, hot water, plumbing and electrics are the landlord's by law and always will be. Freestanding appliances come down to the agreement, so read it before you argue rather than after.

Report in writing, be specific about the fault, allow a fair time, and escalate through the free routes if nothing happens.

And if you spent five weeks washing clothes in a sink because nobody returned an email, that's exactly the sort of thing the next tenant would want to know. Reviewing your landlord and agent on Marks Out Of Tenancy is how they find out.

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This guide covers England and reflects the law as at August 2026. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland differ. General information rather than legal advice, and your own tenancy agreement governs what your landlord agreed to maintain. Sources: Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, section 11, Shelter, repairs under section 11.