Your landlord is responsible for heating and hot water in your rented home. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requires them to keep the boiler, radiators, water heaters and the gas and water pipes that feed them "in repair and proper working order", and section 12 of the same Act makes any tenancy clause that tries to pass this duty to you void.
That single rule settles most heating disputes before they start. The landlord fixes the boiler, the radiators, the immersion heater and the pipework, whatever your tenancy agreement says and whether you rent from a private landlord, a letting agent, a council or a housing association.
This guide covers what the law requires, how fast repairs should happen, the exact escalation route when a landlord goes quiet, and what changed under the Renters' Rights Act 2025. It sits alongside our full repairs overview, which covers the structure of the property, damp and everything else in your landlord's repair duty.
Who is responsible for heating and hot water in a rented property?
The landlord, in almost every case. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 puts a repairing duty on landlords for all tenancies granted for less than 7 years, which covers nearly every private and social tenancy in England and Wales. The tenant's job is to report faults promptly and avoid causing damage.
Section 11 makes the landlord responsible for keeping in repair and proper working order:
- installations for the supply of water, gas and electricity
- installations for sanitation, including basins, sinks and baths
- installations for space heating and heating water
In practice that means gas and electric boilers, central heating systems, radiators, storage heaters and gas fires supplied with the property, immersion heaters, hot water cylinders, and the supply pipes that serve them.
Two features of section 11 give it teeth:
- You can't sign it away. Under section 12 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, any clause that tries to exclude or limit the landlord's section 11 duty is void unless a county court has approved it with both parties' consent, which almost never happens. A tenancy agreement saying "the tenant is responsible for boiler repairs" typically has no legal effect.
- It works alongside a fitness duty. The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 inserted section 9A into the 1985 Act, requiring homes in England to be fit for human habitation when the tenancy starts and to stay that way throughout. Fitness is judged on matters listed in section 10, including freedom from damp, ventilation, water supply and any prescribed hazard under the Housing Act 2004. A home with no working heating in winter may fail that test.
The one situation where the cost lands on you: damage you caused. If a fault comes from misuse, the landlord may still have to repair it but can typically recover the cost from you or your deposit.
How long can a landlord leave you without heating or hot water?
There's no single statutory deadline for most private tenancies. Section 11 requires repair within a "reasonable time" of the landlord being told, and what counts as reasonable shrinks as the problem gets worse. A total loss of heating in winter, or of hot water at any time of year, is widely treated as an emergency needing a response within 24 hours.
The clock starts when your landlord knows about the fault, which is why your first report should always be in writing. For minor faults, a few days to a couple of weeks may be reasonable. For a dead boiler in January, courts and councils expect action measured in hours and days, not weeks.
Social housing tenants in England now have fixed legal deadlines. Since 27 October 2025, Awaab's Law requires social landlords to complete safety works on emergency hazards within 24 hours. A broken boiler in freezing weather can qualify. The detail is in the Awaab's Law section below.
If a repair will take longer than a day or two, ask your landlord in writing for temporary electric heaters. Many will provide them, and where a landlord leaves you in a cold home for a long period without any interim help, that failure may strengthen a later compensation claim.
Is no heating or hot water an emergency repair?
Total loss of heating in cold weather and total loss of hot water are generally treated as emergency or urgent repairs. A partly working system, one cold radiator or a noisy boiler that still heats is usually routine. The category matters because it sets the response time you can reasonably press for.
| Category | Typical examples | Realistic response time | |---|---|---| | Emergency | No heating at all in cold weather; no hot water at all; gas leak or suspected carbon monoxide (call the National Gas Emergency line on 0800 111 999 first); burst pipe flooding the property | Within 24 hours, with a make-safe visit sooner if there's a safety risk | | Urgent | Boiler cutting out repeatedly; no heating in mild weather; leaking radiator or cylinder; erratic water temperature | 1 to 3 working days | | Routine | One radiator cold after bleeding; low boiler pressure recurring; thermostat faults; annual servicing issues | Up to 28 days |
These timeframes reflect common letting-industry and social-landlord repair policies rather than fixed statutes for private tenants, so treat them as the standard to hold your landlord to, not a guarantee.
Your escalation route also depends on who your landlord is:
| | Private tenant | Social tenant (council or housing association) | |---|---|---| | First step | Written report to landlord or agent | Report through the landlord's repairs line, in writing | | Fixed legal deadlines | No fixed timescales yet; "reasonable time" under section 11 | Awaab's Law: 24 hours for emergency hazards, fixed timescales for damp and mould | | Council enforcement | Council environmental health can inspect and serve an improvement notice under the Housing Act 2004 | Councils don't usually enforce against themselves; use the landlord's complaints process | | Independent escalation | Magistrates' court under section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, or a county court claim | Housing Ombudsman after the landlord's complaints process, or a county court claim |
What should I do if my landlord won't fix the heating?
Report the fault in writing, give a clear deadline, then escalate: chase once, contact your council's environmental health team, and if the problem continues, consider court action. Keep dated copies of every message, photos of the fault and a simple log of room temperatures. Evidence decides these disputes.
Here's the path in order:
- Report in writing, day one. Email or text your landlord or agent. State what's broken, when it failed, who's in the household (mention children, older people or anyone with health conditions) and ask for a repair date. A phone call is fine for emergencies, but follow it up in writing the same day.
- Chase with a deadline. If nothing happens within 24 hours for an emergency, or a week for anything else, send a second message. Say it's your final request before you involve the council. Keep the tone factual.
- Contact environmental health. Your council's environmental health team can inspect under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (Housing Act 2004, Part 1), which treats excess cold as a health hazard. Where inspectors find a serious hazard, the council can serve an improvement notice compelling the work, and gov.uk confirms the council must act if it thinks the problem could harm you. Our guide to contacting the environmental health department walks through the process.
- Consider a section 82 complaint. Under section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, a tenant can take a landlord to the magistrates' court directly over a statutory nuisance, which can include a home so cold it's prejudicial to health. You must give the landlord 21 days' written notice first. The court can order the work, fine the landlord and order them to cover your reasonable costs.
- Bring a housing conditions claim. As a last resort, a county court claim under section 11 or section 9A can get an order compelling repairs plus compensation. Free help is available from Shelter, Citizens Advice or your council's housing options team before you start.
Don't stop paying rent. Withholding rent has no clear legal basis, puts you in arrears and hands your landlord a possession ground. There's a recognised but risky procedure for doing repairs yourself and deducting the cost after proper notice and quotes; get advice from Shelter or Citizens Advice before attempting it.
If the disrepair has gone beyond the heating system, for example water damage bringing part of a ceiling down, see our guide to collapsed ceilings and landlord repairs.
If you're a landlord reading this, or a tenant whose landlord keeps failing to fix the boiler: boiler cover plans such as Hometree handle repairs through their own engineers, which can shortcut the arguments about who fixes what. (Affiliate link - we may earn a commission at no cost to you.)
What temperature should a rented home be able to reach?
UK health guidance treats 18°C as the minimum indoor temperature for a healthy home in winter, with warmer recommended for older people, young children and anyone with heart or lung conditions. There's no single statutory minimum for private rented homes, but a property that can't reach these levels may count as an excess cold hazard.
The UK Health Security Agency's evidence review settled on 18°C as the practical minimum for English homes in winter. Earlier public health advice used 21°C for living rooms and 18°C for bedrooms, figures many council inspectors still use as a benchmark when assessing excess cold under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System.
A cheap room thermometer turns this from argument into evidence. Log readings twice a day with dates. Readings stuck below 18°C while the heating runs flat out make a strong case to environmental health.
Does my landlord have to service the boiler every year?
Landlords must have every gas appliance and flue they supply safety-checked at least every 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer, under regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. You must get a copy of the record within 28 days of the check, or before you move in as a new tenant.
A safety check isn't the same as a full service, though the same regulation also requires landlords to maintain gas appliances and flues in a safe condition. If you've never seen a gas safety record, ask for it in writing. A landlord who can't produce one is committing an offence, and councils and the Health and Safety Executive both take that seriously.
What are my responsibilities as a tenant?
Tenants must use the heating system properly, handle minor day-to-day upkeep such as bleeding radiators, report faults quickly and avoid causing damage. You're not responsible for repairs, replacements or anything that counts as maintenance of the installations themselves. That stays with the landlord under section 11.
In practice, your side of the bargain looks like this:
- Report faults promptly, in writing. A landlord isn't liable for a fault nobody told them about.
- Bleed radiators that are hot at the bottom and cold at the top. Trapped air is day-to-day upkeep, not disrepair.
- Check the basics before reporting: boiler pressure (typically 1 to 1.5 bar), the thermostat setting, and whether a prepayment meter has credit.
- Don't block ventilation or run the home in ways that cause avoidable condensation damage.
- Allow access for repairs and the annual gas safety check on reasonable notice, usually 24 hours.
What does Awaab's Law mean for social housing tenants?
Since 27 October 2025, council and housing association landlords in England must meet fixed deadlines for dangerous hazards: emergency hazards made safe within 24 hours, significant damp and mould investigated within 10 working days, findings put in writing within 3 working days, and safety works completed within 5 working days.
Awaab's Law was created by the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and implemented through the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025. Phase 1 covers emergency hazards of any kind plus significant damp and mould. A total heating failure in freezing weather can be an emergency hazard, which triggers the 24-hour deadline. Where a home can't be made safe in time, the landlord may have to offer suitable alternative accommodation at its own expense.
A second phase, in force from 30 November 2026, extends the fixed timescales to further hazards including excess cold, excess heat, falls, and fire and electrical hazards. That change would put cold homes themselves on a statutory clock.
These duties form part of the tenancy agreement, so a social landlord that misses the deadlines can be taken to court for breach, alongside the Housing Ombudsman route.
What changed under the Renters' Rights Act 2025?
2026 update - Renters' Rights Act 2025: New repair duties now apply to private landlords. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 extends the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector and brings in Awaab's Law, which sets strict timescales for landlords to investigate and fix serious hazards such as damp and mould. If a landlord ignores a dangerous defect you can report it to your council's environmental health team, and where the problem is serious the council can require the work to be done. The Act is being phased in across 2026. See our Renters' Rights Act 2025 guide.
Two changes matter most for heating disputes. First, Section 21 "no-fault" evictions were abolished from 1 May 2026, so a private landlord can no longer respond to a repair request by simply ending the tenancy. Second, the Decent Homes Standard and Awaab's Law-style timescales are being extended to private renting as the Act's provisions are switched on, which will give private tenants the kind of fixed deadlines social tenants already have. Check the current commencement position before relying on a specific timescale.
Can I claim compensation for living without heating or hot water?
You may be able to. Where a landlord fails to repair within a reasonable time after being told, a county court can award compensation, often assessed as a proportion of the rent for the period the home was affected, plus specific losses such as electric heater running costs. Outcomes depend heavily on your evidence.
Keep the paper trail: dated reports, photos, temperature logs, receipts for heaters or extra electricity, and notes of any health effects. Free advice on whether a claim is worth bringing is available from Shelter, Citizens Advice and many council housing teams. For the wider picture on every repair your landlord owes you, browse our repairs section.
Most heating disputes never get near a court. A clear written report, a temperature log and one mention of environmental health resolve the majority. The law is on your side; the job is proving you used it.
Sources
