Is the Landlord Responsible for Roof Repairs?

Think of the house as two parts. The shell, meaning the roof covering, the timbers beneath it, the chimney stack, the gutters and the outside walls, is the building itself. The inside, meaning your furniture, your decorating and your own belongings, is yours. When rain gets through a roof it is the shell that has failed, so the repair normally falls to the person who owns the building.

That is the general position for an ordinary rented house. Details vary. A tenancy agreement may say who handles what, a short let or a lodger arrangement can differ, and a flat has its own wrinkle, because the roof may belong to a freeholder above the landlord. Our answer on leaseholder roof repairs explains that chain.

None of this is legal advice for your own tenancy. If you are unsure where you stand, your council's housing team and Citizens Advice can look at your actual agreement. What we can tell you from the roof side is what a good repair looks like, so you can judge whether the landlord's contractor has done the job properly.

Tell the landlord or the managing agent as soon as you notice a stain, a drip or a loose tile, and put it in writing, even if you also phone. An email or message gives you a dated record. Say where the water is coming in, when you first noticed it and whether it only appears in heavy rain. Add photos of the ceiling, and of the outside of the roof if you can see it clearly from the ground. Do not climb up to look.

Keep buckets and towels under any drip, move electrical items away and, if water is close to a ceiling light, turn that lighting circuit off at the fuse board and leave the fitting alone until it has dried and been checked. Our answer on a ceiling with water coming through covers the safe steps in more detail.

Photos that show the damage growing are useful. A single stain that spreads over a fortnight tells a clearer story than one snap taken on the day you move out. If the first message goes unanswered, send a polite second one that refers back to the first.

There is no single number of days that suits every roof, and we would be wary of anyone who quotes one. A rain leak into a bedroom calls for a quick temporary make-safe. A slipped tile with no water coming in can reasonably wait for a proper repair. A tired roof that needs a full covering renewed is a bigger decision, with a survey, a written price and a booking to follow.

What you can fairly ask for is a plan. Who is coming, when they expect to look, and whether the first visit is a temporary fix or the full repair. Ask for that in writing too. A landlord who sends a roofer to look at the problem promptly is behaving very differently from one who goes quiet, and your record of messages shows which one you are dealing with.

Keep your own side of things tidy meanwhile. Let the contractor in on the dates agreed, clear furniture away from the wet area and tell the landlord if the stain grows, because a repair arranged for a small drip may need widening once the roof is opened up.

If the leak is spreading into the home and nothing is moving, speak to your council's housing team or Citizens Advice about your options. They can advise on your own agreement, which we cannot.

It is tempting to call a roofer yourself when the ceiling is dripping. Please speak to the landlord first. Without agreement, you may find the bill is yours, and a repair done to a different standard from the landlord's own plans can complicate things later. A good compromise is to ask the landlord to approve a temporary make-safe to stop the water, with the full repair to follow.

If you are the one ordering work, because you own the freehold or manage the property, the sensible first step is a survey of the roof, with photos you can keep. Our price goes down on paper as one figure after we have been up and looked, which suits a landlord who wants one document for their records, and the photos show exactly what the roof looks like on that day. For buyers and sellers worried about the state of a roof, our page on roof checks when buying a house may help, and our roofing services in Crawley overview shows the work we cover.

Tenants should also check their own contents cover. A landlord's policy normally looks after the building, not your belongings.