Three laws define your roof repair duties as a Winchester landlord — the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985, the Homes (Fitness) Act 2018 and Awaab’s Law. Here they are in plain English, with the current position stated accurately.
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📞 Call Now: 01962 809171If you let a property in Winchester, roof disrepair is not just a maintenance headache — it is a legal duty with real teeth. Three pieces of law define your obligations, and a tenant who reports a roof leak has rights you need to understand. This guide sets them out in plain English, with the current position accurately stated.
None of this is legal advice — for a specific dispute, take proper advice — but knowing the framework helps you respond correctly and avoid the disrepair claims and council enforcement that catch out landlords who treat a roof leak as low priority.
This is the foundation. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 implies into virtually every residential tenancy a landlord’s duty to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling — and the roof is explicitly part of the structure and exterior.
You cannot contract out of it. It applies whether or not the tenancy agreement mentions the roof. The duty is to repair once you know, or ought reasonably to have known, of the disrepair — which is why a tenant’s report of a leak starts the clock. Fail to act within a reasonable time and the tenant can bring a disrepair claim for the cost of putting it right plus damages for the disruption and any damaged possessions.
For a Winchester landlord this bites most on the city’s older let stock — the converted Victorian terraces of Hyde and Fulflood, the 1930s semis around Weeke — where roof and lead junctions fail and tenants notice damp on ceilings first.
The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 went further. It requires rented homes to be fit for human habitation at the start of and throughout the tenancy. A roof leak causing persistent damp and mould can make a home legally unfit.
Crucially, this Act lets the tenant take the landlord to court directly, without needing the council to act first, and the court can order the works to be done and award compensation. Damp and mould from a failing roof is one of the clearest routes to an unfitness claim. The practical lesson is the same: a reported roof leak needs a prompt, documented response.
Awaab’s Law introduced strict legal timescales for landlords to investigate and fix damp, mould and other serious hazards after a tenant reports them. It is named after Awaab Ishak, a two-year-old who died following prolonged exposure to mould in his family’s social housing.
Here is the current position stated accurately. Awaab’s Law has applied to social landlords in England since 27 October 2025, with fixed statutory timescales for damp, mould and emergency hazards. For the private rented sector, the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 gives the government the power to extend the same kind of duty to private landlords — but that extension needs separate regulations, and no commencement date has been confirmed. It sits in a later phase of the Act’s roadmap, subject to a government consultation.
In short: as things stand, Awaab’s Law does not yet impose those fixed timescales on private landlords. But the direction of travel is settled, and the social-housing timescales (broadly: investigate significant damp and mould within days, act on emergencies within 24 hours) are the obvious template for what will come. A Winchester landlord who already responds promptly and documents everything is preparing for the change and meeting the existing Section 11 and 2018 Act duties at the same time.
Your repairing duty comes with a right to enter and inspect, but you must give the tenant reasonable notice — the widely accepted norm is at least 24 hours in writing, except in a genuine emergency where water is actively causing damage. In practice, cooperating with the tenant on timing gets the roofer on site faster than standing on formalities. We routinely coordinate access directly with tenants on a landlord’s behalf.
For tax, there is a broad distinction between a repair (restoring the roof to its previous condition — usually an allowable expense against rental income) and a capital improvement (upgrading beyond the original, such as a full re-roof that betters the property — typically capital, not an immediate deduction). The line is not always obvious — like-for-like re-roofing is often treated as repair, while upgrading materially can be capital.
This is general information, not tax advice: confirm the treatment of any specific job with your accountant, because it turns on the facts. What we can help with is the documentation — itemised, dated, VAT invoices and a clear description of the work — that your accountant needs to make the call and that HMRC expects to see.
The single best protection against a disrepair claim is a paper trail showing you responded promptly. Keep dated photographs of the reported problem and the completed repair, the written itemised invoice, and a note of when the tenant reported it and when you acted. We provide dated before-and-after photographs and itemised VAT invoices as standard on landlord work, precisely so your records stand up. This is also exactly the evidence that demonstrates compliance if the rules tighten.
We offer Winchester landlords a priority response for tenant-reported roof problems, coordinate access directly with tenants, and provide the dated photographs and itemised invoices your records and your accountant need. For the practical detail of handling a tenant-reported leak, read our guide to roof-related damp and mould, and for void-period works see between-tenancy roof maintenance. To set up priority landlord cover, call 01962 809171.
Yes. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 implies a duty to keep the structure and exterior — including the roof — in repair into virtually every residential tenancy. You cannot contract out of it, and the duty starts once you know or ought to know of the disrepair.
Not yet. Awaab’s Law has applied to social landlords in England since 27 October 2025. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 contains the power to extend it to the private rented sector, but that needs separate regulations and no commencement date has been confirmed. Private landlords should prepare, as the direction is settled.
Yes. Under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 a tenant can take a landlord to court directly, without the council acting first, where disrepair such as roof-sourced damp and mould makes the home unfit. The court can order the works and award compensation.
Section 11 requires repair within a reasonable time of knowing about it. There is no fixed private-sector deadline yet, but responding promptly and documenting it is the best protection against a disrepair claim — and prepares you for Awaab’s-Law-style timescales when they are extended.
It depends. A like-for-like repair is usually an allowable expense against rental income; a re-roof that materially improves the property may be treated as capital. The line turns on the facts — confirm with your accountant. We provide the itemised, dated VAT invoices they need.
At least 24 hours in writing is the accepted norm, except in a genuine emergency. Cooperating with the tenant on timing usually gets the repair done faster than insisting on formal notice.
Dated photographs of the problem and the finished repair, the written itemised VAT invoice, and a note of when the tenant reported it and when you acted. This paper trail is your defence against a disrepair claim and your evidence of compliance.
Last updated: August 2026
Last updated: August 2026