In England the landlord must keep the water, heating and sanitary installations in repair under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, so a leaking pipe, cylinder or radiator is theirs to fix. The tenant must report it promptly and allow access, and pays only for damage they or their guests caused.
A leak in a rented home puts two people on the phone at once, and neither is quite sure whose problem it is. The tenant is looking at a wet ceiling and wondering whether the deposit is at risk. The landlord is a hundred miles away, or running six other properties, and wondering what they are obliged to do and how fast. Here is the split as it applies in England, what each side should do on day one, and why a leak nobody can see needs trace and access rather than a guess.
What the landlord has to repair
Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 is implied into almost every residential tenancy of under seven years, whether or not the written agreement mentions it. It obliges the landlord to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the home, the installations for the supply of water, gas, electricity and sanitation, and the installations for space heating and heating water. In plain terms: the pipes, stopcock, cold water tank, hot water cylinder, boiler, radiators, toilet, basins and bath. A pipe weeping inside a wall, a radiator valve dripping onto a carpet, a cistern that will not stop filling: all of it sits on the landlord’s side of the line.
Two points catch people out. The duty cannot be signed away, so a clause putting “all plumbing repairs” on the tenant does not hold. And it only starts once the landlord knows about the fault. Nobody is in breach for a leak they have not been told about, but once told, the landlord must act within a reasonable time. Water through a ceiling is a same-day matter. A slow drip under a sink can wait a few days.
What the tenant has to do
The tenant does not fix pipes, but is not a bystander either. Three duties matter.
- Report it promptly. A dated text or email with a photo protects both sides later, because it fixes the moment the landlord knew. Sitting on a leak for weeks can breach the tenancy and leaves the tenant partly responsible for the damage that followed.
- Behave in a tenant-like manner. The old phrase still applies. Turn the water off at the stopcock when a pipe bursts, do not leave a bath running, and if you are going away in winter, tell the landlord and agree whether the heating stays on.
- Allow access. The landlord is entitled to come in at reasonable times, normally on 24 hours’ written notice, to inspect and repair. That notice is the minimum for a planned visit, not a reason to keep a plumber out while water drips from a light fitting.
The tenant pays for damage caused by their own carelessness or a guest’s: a shelf screwed through a pipe, a washing machine plumbed in badly, an overflowing bath. They also insure their own belongings, because the landlord’s buildings policy does not cover a tenant’s sofa or laptop, however the water got there.
Who pays for what, side by side
| Situation | Who is responsible | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Pipe leaking in a wall, floor or ceiling void | Landlord (section 11) | Tenant turns off the stopcock and reports it. Landlord arranges tracing, then repair. |
| Boiler, cylinder or radiator leaking | Landlord | Tenant switches the heating off and reports it. |
| Supply pipe under the garden or drive, inside the boundary | Landlord, as owner | Trace and repair. Apply for a leak allowance if metered. |
| Communication pipe or main outside the boundary | South West Water | Report it to South West Water. |
| Tenant’s own washing machine or dishwasher leaking | Tenant | Repair or replace it, and pay for damage it caused. |
| Bath overflowed, pipe pierced during DIY | Tenant (negligence) | Landlord repairs, then may claim from the deposit with evidence. |
| Tenant’s belongings ruined | Tenant’s contents insurance | Buildings cover excludes contents. |
| Water bill inflated by the leak | Whoever holds the account | Apply for a leak allowance once it is repaired. |
Buildings insurance, contents insurance and the excess
The landlord’s buildings policy responds to the damage a leak does to the fabric of the house: ceiling, plaster, floor. Most buildings policies also include trace and access cover, which pays to find a hidden leak and open up the building to reach it, with a limit often in the £5,000 to £10,000 range. It does not pay to mend the pipe itself. Our guide to what trace and access insurance covers has the detail.
The excess on that claim is the landlord’s to pay, not the tenant’s, unless the leak was the tenant’s fault and the landlord can show it. A tenant’s damaged belongings go on their contents policy, if they have one. Many renters do not, and contents cover is cheap next to replacing everything in a flooded ground floor.
The water bill after a leak
The bill goes to whoever holds the account. In most Cornish lets that is the tenant, unless water is included in the rent, and the tenancy agreement should say which. So a metered tenant can end up paying for water that ran out of a pipe they do not own. South West Water offers a leak allowance on a first leak on the private supply pipe, subject to its conditions, and either party can apply once the repair is done. The process is in our guide to the South West Water leak allowance. For an internal leak the tenant reported promptly, the fair answer is for the landlord to cover the excess water, and meter readings on the day of the report and the day of the repair settle the figure.
Cornish lets: long lets, student lets and empty weeks
Two local patterns come up again and again. The first is the long let in an older house: a granite or cob cottage, a Victorian terrace in Camborne or Truro, a converted barn towards Bodmin Moor with a long supply pipe under the yard. Pipework in these homes is often decades old and buried in solid floors, so a leak rarely shows itself where it starts. The second is the student let in Falmouth and Penryn, where a full house goes quiet over the summer and a small leak has weeks to do its work. If you manage student houses, an end-of-term meter reading with everything off takes ten minutes and tells you whether the property is losing water while it stands empty.
Holiday lets are different. A guest is not a tenant and section 11 does not apply, but the owner still carries the whole repair, and a leak in changeover week is a lost booking. In a shared building, a leak from the flat above raises its own questions, covered in our guide to a water leak from the flat above.
The first day: a checklist for each side
Tenant
- Turn the water off at the stopcock if water is actively coming through. Switch the heating off if the boiler pressure is dropping.
- Move belongings, bucket under the drip, electrics away from the water.
- Report it in writing with photos and the time. Follow up by phone if it is serious.
- Take a meter reading and photograph it.
Landlord or agent
- Reply the same day and say what you are doing. The clock started with the tenant’s message.
- Get someone in to make it safe if the tenant cannot isolate it.
- If the source cannot be seen, book detection before anyone opens a wall. Guesswork means holes in the wrong places.
- Tell your insurer and check the trace and access section of the policy.
When nobody can see where it is coming from
Most landlord and tenant disputes about leaks are not about the law. They are about a leak that keeps coming back because the plumber patched the wet patch rather than the source. A proper survey uses acoustic listening, thermal imaging and tracer gas to put the leak on a plan before anything is opened, and the written report tells the plumber where to cut, supports the landlord’s insurance claim, and shows a deposit adjudicator whether the cause was a failed pipe or something the tenant did. We provide leak detection across Cornwall for landlords, agents and tenants, booked by whichever side is on the phone.
Frequently asked questions
Is a tenant ever responsible for repairing a water leak?
Not for a leak from the building’s own pipes, tank, cylinder, boiler or sanitary fittings. Those are the landlord’s under section 11. A tenant is responsible for their own appliances, such as a washing machine they brought with them, and for damage caused by their own carelessness or a guest’s.
How quickly does a landlord have to fix a leak?
Within a reasonable time of being told, and the law does not put a number of days on it. Water pouring through a ceiling means the same day. A contained slow drip can reasonably wait a few days for a plumber. Report in writing so there is no argument about when the clock started.
Can the landlord take the cost of a leak from my deposit?
Only where the leak or the damage was your fault, and only with evidence. A pipe that failed through age is fair wear and tear and cannot be charged to you. A pipe pierced while putting up a shelf, or a bath left to overflow, can be. A leak detection report often settles which it was.
Who pays the water bill after a leak in a rented house?
The account holder, which is usually the tenant unless water is included in the rent. South West Water may grant a leak allowance for a first leak on the supply pipe once it is repaired. For an internal leak reported promptly, ask the landlord to cover the excess water shown by meter readings.
Does the tenant or the landlord call the leak detection company?
Either can. The landlord or agent normally books and pays because the repair is theirs, and the report supports their insurance claim. A tenant who cannot get a response can arrange a survey to prove the leak exists, then use the report to press the landlord to act.
Leak in a rented home?
Landlord, agent or tenant, we locate the leak without tearing the place apart and hand over an insurance-ready report that also settles any deposit question.
