The Advice Centre has produced a leaflet – Repairs in Private Rented Accommodation (pdf).
Did you know your landlord has a legal responsibility to undertake repairs and make sure that the flat meets the “Repairing Standard” at all times during your tenancy? This includes ensuring that the flat is wind and watertight, that the heating and hot water are working and that any appliances supplied as part of the tenancy agreement are in working order.
You should contact your landlord or his/her agent in the first instance to get repairs done. Keep a note of when you contacted them, and if possible make this contact in writing/by email, in case you need to chase it up later.
A reasonable length of time to carry out a repair depends on the nature of the problem – serious risks to your health and safety should be dealt with urgently, whereas more minor repairs might take a little bit longer.
If you have notified the need for a repair, and the landlord has failed to do the repair within a reasonable time, you may need to escalate the problem.
The Advice Team have put together a template repairs letter which you can customise to your own circumstances and send to your letting agent or landlord either by post or copied into an email.
All private rented sector tenants have the right to ask the Housing and Property Chamber Tribunal to force their landlord to carry out repairs which are related to the Repairing Standard.
Before the HPC Tribunal will consider your case, you have to be able to demonstrate that you have reported the problem to your landlord and given him/her a reasonable chance to respond. So it’s a good idea to keep dated copies of any letters or emails you send your landlord about the repairs.
You can download an application form, together with details of the Repairing Standard, from the Housing and Property Chamber website.
For problems relating to insect/bug/rat infestations you should contact your landlord or the council’s Pest Control Team, in the first instance. For contact details and more information about pest control, check out our own SRC page about pests and also Glasgow City Council’s website.
You can also call into the SRC Advice Centre in the McIntyre Building for advice or contact them by phone: 0141 330 5360 or email: advice@src.gla.ac.uk