What Section 11 requires
Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 imposes implied covenants on landlords in all residential tenancies granted on or after 24 October 1961. These covenants cannot be excluded by agreement. They apply to all periodic tenancies, Assured Shorthold Tenancies, and (from 1 May 2026) all Periodic Assured Tenancies. Every private landlord in England is bound by them.
- Structure and exterior: Keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling. Structure includes walls, roof, foundations, and the permanent load-bearing elements. Exterior includes gutters, drains, downpipes, window frames, external doors, and external pipes
- Water, gas, electricity, and sanitation installations: Keep in repair and proper working order the installations for the supply of water, gas, and electricity, and for sanitation (basins, sinks, baths, WCs). This includes the supply pipes, drains, and the sanitary fittings themselves
- Heating and hot water installations: Keep in repair and proper working order the installations for space heating of the dwelling and for heating water for the tenant's use. This covers boilers, central heating systems, storage heaters, and hot water cylinders, but not gas appliances such as a gas fire that are not part of the central heating system (those are covered by the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998)
What Section 11 does NOT cover
- Decorative repairs and redecoration
- Items the tenant is responsible for under the tenancy agreement (e.g. internal door handles, light bulbs, tenant's own appliances)
- Damage caused by the tenant's own misuse, neglect, or deliberate act
- Improvements or upgrades beyond keeping the existing installation in repair and working order
- Garden maintenance or landscaping (unless a structural element such as a retaining wall is involved)
Heating obligations in practice
The obligation to keep heating installations in repair and proper working order is one of the most practically significant Section 11 duties. For private landlords, the most common heating-related disrepair claims arise from boiler breakdowns, failure of central heating radiators, and inadequate storage heaters.
- Complete boiler failure: A complete loss of heating (and hot water, where the boiler also heats water) in winter is treated as an emergency repair. Courts have held that a response time of 24–48 hours is expected in urgent circumstances. If the repair takes longer, the landlord should provide temporary heating (portable electric heaters) at no cost to the tenant
- Partial heating failure: Where some radiators or rooms have no heat but others do, the timescale is more flexible — typically 3–5 working days for a non-urgent failure. In winter, a single room with no heating can still be an urgent matter depending on the circumstances
- Boiler at end of life: An ageing boiler that breaks down repeatedly is not in 'proper working order'. Where a boiler is beyond economic repair, the landlord's obligation is to replace it, not merely to patch it until the next failure
- Annual gas safety inspections: The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 require landlords to arrange an annual gas safety inspection by a Gas Safe registered engineer. This is separate from the Section 11 obligation but reinforces it — a gas safety record showing a boiler at risk confirms the Section 11 disrepair
- Heating adequacy: Section 11 requires heating installations to be in 'repair and proper working order' — not that they provide adequate heat. However, a heating system that is theoretically working but inadequate for the size of the property may be relevant under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 if it renders the property unfit
The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018
The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 extended the fitness for habitation covenant (Section 9A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985) to all residential tenancies. It requires that a dwelling must be fit for human habitation at the date it is let and throughout the tenancy. A dwelling is unfit for human habitation if it is defective in one or more of the prescribed matters and as a result is not reasonably suitable for occupation.
- The prescribed matters include: repair, stability, freedom from damp, internal arrangement, natural lighting, ventilation, water supply, drainage and sanitary conveniences, facilities for preparation and cooking of food, and disposal of wastewater
- Severe damp and mould that arises from structural defects (penetrating or rising damp) is almost certainly a Section 11 and Fitness for Habitation issue. Even condensation mould, if so severe that it affects health, may engage the fitness covenant under the 2018 Act
- Infestations (rodents, cockroaches, bedbugs) may engage the fitness covenant if they are caused by structural defects (e.g. gaps in the structure that allow rodent ingress) rather than by the tenant's behaviour
- A property without adequate cooking facilities, without a functioning bathroom, or without safe electrical installations is unfit for human habitation from the moment of letting
Awaab's Law extension to the PRS from 1 May 2026
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 extends Awaab's Law to the private rented sector from 1 May 2026. Awaab's Law requires landlords to investigate reported damp, mould, and other prescribed health hazards within statutory timeframes. It imposes: a duty to acknowledge the report, a duty to inspect within a prescribed period (expected to be 14 days), a duty to produce a written repair plan within a further period, and a duty to begin and complete remediation promptly.
Landlords who fail to comply with Awaab's Law timeframes face civil penalties of up to £5,000 for a first breach and up to £30,000 for a subsequent breach. Compliance requires not just fixing the damp but documenting every step: acknowledgment date, inspection date, written repair plan, remediation completion date.
Limitation of tenant liability: damage caused by the tenant
Section 11 does not require a landlord to repair damage caused by the tenant's misuse, negligence, or deliberate act. A boiler that a tenant has damaged by draining the system incorrectly is not the landlord's Section 11 obligation to repair. However, the landlord must prove that the damage was caused by the tenant — not merely assert it. In practice, this means that a landlord who relies on 'tenant damage' to avoid a Section 11 obligation must have evidence: an inventory showing the item in good condition at the start of the tenancy, a contemporaneous inspection report showing damage attributed to the tenant, and ideally a report from a qualified contractor confirming the cause of the failure.
Practical steps for Section 11 compliance
- Respond to every repair request in writing within a defined internal SLA: emergencies (heating failure in winter, burst pipe, no hot water) within 24 hours; urgent repairs within 3–5 working days; non-urgent repairs within 28 days
- Conduct an annual property inspection and record the condition of all Section 11 elements: check boiler, radiators, hot water, roof condition, gutters, external walls, windows, drains, sanitary fittings
- Keep all repair records: contractor invoices, completion photos, repair request logs, and inspection reports
- Serve a written repair completion notice on the tenant whenever a Section 11 repair is completed
- For older properties, plan ahead: an ageing boiler or roof is a foreseeable Section 11 obligation — budget for it rather than waiting for it to fail
- For damp and mould: follow the Awaab's Law checklist from 1 May 2026 — acknowledge, inspect within 14 days, produce a written plan, complete remediation and document it