24-Hour Property Maintenance in London

Maintenance Services

Most out-of-hours calls on London properties are about water: a burst pipe, a leak from the flat above, a boiler that has stopped. After that it’s electrics.

The first few minutes matter most. For water, close the stop tap, usually under the kitchen sink or near the front door. For electrics, switch off at the consumer unit. If you smell gas, leave the property and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999.

Then the cause has to be found. Water runs along joists before it shows, so the leak isn’t always above the stain. A tripping circuit might be a faulty appliance, water in an outside light or damaged cable. An electrical fault repair starts by testing each circuit to find which one it is.

Planned maintenance

Most emergencies are preventable. Plumbing checks, an annual boiler service, clearing gutters in autumn, testing smoke alarms and RCDs, and looking at the roof after a big storm catch most problems while they’re small.

For landlords

The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 puts most repairs on the landlord for tenancies under seven years:

“to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences, but not other fixtures, fittings and appliances for making use of the supply of water, gas or electricity)”

Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, section 11(1)(b)

Gas has its own deadline:

“ensure that each appliance and flue to which that duty extends is checked for safety within 12 months of being installed and at intervals of not more than 12 months since it was last checked for safety”

Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 36(3)(a)

In practice, a Gas Safe engineer every year, and a copy of the record to the tenant.

The same 1985 Act has an odd survivor. Section 8, on fitness for human habitation, still sets its rent limit for London at £80 a year for contracts made on or after 6 July 1957. Nobody pays rent that low. The amended section now only applies in Wales, but the London figure is still in its table.

Force Builders carries out emergency and planned maintenance for homes, landlords and commercial properties across London.