What your landlord is supposed to pay for

It can be daunting moving into a student house. It’s probably the first time you’ve had to pay bills (who knew water cost so much?), fill out council tax forms and put up with passive aggressive post-it notes. The last thing you need to deal with is a mouldy wardrobe.

The crumbling elegance of Bristol’s Georgian semis and Victorian terraces can soon become a curse, with rising damp, poor insulation and antique plumbing quickly turning your Brideshead dream into an episode of How Clean Is Your House?

Even though you’re paying hundreds a month to live in their property, landlords aren’t always open about what’s your responsibility and what they’re supposed to deal with. Things can get very confusing and there is no definitive online list of what tenants and landlords are responsible for.  

But, armed with this advice from the National Landlord’s Association, you’ll finally be able to work out what you’re allowed to get pissed off about (and what you’re not).

Appliances

If your house is furnished, your landlord is responsible for any provided furniture and appliances. For example, if your fridge breaks your landlords should organise and pay for the repairs.

However, if you’ve had a few drinks and decide to have a dance on the kitchen table, you’ll probably invalidate your tenancy agreement when it snaps into shards on your kitchen floor.

Bathroom Stuff

Your landlord is responsible for making sure you have working toilets, sinks, baths, showers, hot war, heating, pipes and drains. But again, if you misuse sanitary fittings then you have to sort it out. 

Structure and Exterior

Your landlord is responsible for the structure and exterior of the property. But unless your house has got some serious issues, you shouldn’t really need any work done in these areas.

Health and Safety

Your landlord is responsible for checking the gas and electric and doing fire risk assessments. Basically, they should be making sure your toaster isn’t going to explode.

Your landlord should also keep the property pest-free, although this gets complicated if you’ve been leaving out mouldy food and rotting rubbish bags. It’s the tenant’s job to keep things tidy, so don’t be gross.

Mould

Mould is the bane of most students’ lives. We live in a constant battle against damp walls and that gross, black gunk that accumulates on the bathroom windows.

Unfortunately, mould is the biggest grey area in the tenant-landlord saga. Most disputes arise from mould issues, with landlord’s blaming tenants for not looking after the property.

As a tenant, you’re expected to heat your property, not dry clothes indoors and ventilate the property thoroughly. All of these things can help minimise mould but in some old properties, even good tenant behaviour isn’t enough to stop the inevitable.

If you are living properly, then hopefully your landlord will sort out your mould without any fuss.

Extra Advice

To avoid any nasty situations, it’s always best to get your house through a letting agency. You’ll have to pay a fee but you’ll be grateful when you need something fixing and the landlord’s MIA. Agencies often have their own builders and handymen who can come over at short notice and fix any problems you have.

Contact your agency or landlord if you’re concerned about anything and get them over to take a look if you want something clarifying. Good communication will stop situations escalating and ensure you don’t lose your deposit when you clear off for the holidays in June.

Whilst the advice given here will be applicable to most situations, check your tenancy agreement for further information.