If there's a leak from a neighbouring flat

Your landlord is usually responsible for repairing damage caused by a leak from a neighbouring flat. For example, if the water causes a ceiling in your home to collapse or plasterwork is damaged.

Your landlord is responsible for repairing the damage in these circumstances because there's a term implied into your tenancy agreement, which says that they are responsible for keeping certain things in repair. It includes keeping the structure of your home in repair such as the walls, ceilings and plasterwork. 

Your landlord only becomes responsible for repairing the damage when they know about it.  

In some cases, a private landlord might try to evict you rather than do repair work. Make sure you know if you're at risk of eviction before taking action.

Find out more about private tenants and the risk of eviction.

If your belongings have been damaged

If your landlord isn't responsible for the leak, they won't be liable for any damage to your furniture or belongings.

If the leak was caused by your neighbour being careless, for example, they left the bath to overflow, it's their responsibility to pay for the damaged belongings.

If you have household contents insurance, you might be able to make a claim for your damaged belongings.

Find out more about household contents insurance.

You could also make a court claim against your neighbour on the grounds of nuisance or negligence. You could claim for the damage caused to your belongings and compensation for inconvenience.

Court action should always be a last resort and it's best to try and resolve disputes before going to court, so try and reach some amicable solution with your neighbour first.

Find out more about taking legal action.

If a leak was caused by a failure to do repairs

In some circumstances, a leak into your home may be because of a failure to make repairs in a neighbour's home or a communal area.

Failure to make repairs in another flat

If you share the same landlord with your neighbour and the cause of the leak or flood was failure to make repairs in their flat which is your landlord's responsibility to repair, your landlord could also be responsible for the effects of the leak or flood.

The landlord may be responsible if your neighbour reported the need for repair to them but they didn't do anything about it. In these circumstances, as well as being responsible for repairing damage to your home, your landlord is also likely to be responsible for damage to your belongings and any loss or inconvenience you've suffered.

Failure to make repairs in a communal area

If your landlord is responsible for a communal area and the leak comes from there because of a failure to make repairs, for example, leaking service pipes, then your landlord is responsible for repairing damage to your home.

In these circumstances, your landlord is also likely to be responsible for damage to your belongings and any loss or inconvenience you've suffered.

Because communal areas of buildings are considered to be in your landlord's control, you're not required to give notice of the need for repairs in these areas in the same way as if the problem was in your home. This means your landlord becomes responsible for fixing repairs to common parts straightaway.

Repeated leaks from a neighbour's flat

If you're having problems with repeated leaks because of something that a neighbour is doing or not doing, it's their or their landlord's responsibility to repair it. For example, a problem with your neighbour's washing machine causes it to leak into your home when used and your neighbour fails to get it fixed.

It's best to try and resolve the problem between yourselves, so speaking to your neighbour is the best first step.

If you find that difficult, a local mediator might be able to help. Ultimately, you could take court action for nuisance or negligence and get an injunction. You would need specialist help to do this.

If you and your neighbour share the same landlord you could also ask for their help with the problem. If your landlord is a social housing landlord and they fail to help you, you could make a complaint.

Check how to complain about a neighbour.