Something has broken: do you fix it or does the landlord?
The general rule is simple, and it still causes half the awkward messages. Where the line falls.
The boiler stops producing hot water on a Sunday. Before arguing over WhatsApp, the law divides this fairly clearly.
What falls to the landlord
All repairs needed to keep the property habitable: installations, appliances that came with the flat, damp, the boiler, the blind that breaks through use. They cannot raise your rent for carrying them out, and they cannot refuse on the grounds that renting it to you was already a favour.
What falls to you
The small repairs arising from day-to-day use: a washer, a light bulb, an occasional blockage, the thermostat batteries. The logic is that these are minor, everyday matters for whoever lives there.
And what you break
If you or someone in your household caused the damage, you pay for it, large or small. That includes the appliance that fails through misuse, not the one that dies of old age.
Always report in writing and with a photo, even if you call afterwards. A dated written notice protects you if the problem worsens: if you reported it and nothing was done, the responsibility for the bigger damage is not yours.
If it is urgent and there is no reply
For urgent repairs you can carry them out and claim the cost back, but give notice before doing so and keep everything: the notice, the reply or silence, the quote and the invoice. Without that trail, recovering the money gets very difficult.
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