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What should a housing landlord be doing in this situation !!

30 replies

Dodooodo · 11/02/2026 06:51

Situation is as followed

block of flats with 6 flats in total, a water pipe burst in the block and 3 flats water went off due to someone trying to stop the leak damaging there stop clock things.
the fire brigade came as it was a lot of water and they contacted Thames water and the landlord association - they both came out so fire brigade left but then so did the housing and Thames water and said nothing they could do. The amount of water coming out was insane and the fire brigade returned at 2 am and stayed until morning around 8 am when someone arrived to try and stop it.
eventually at 2 pm today he managed to secure the pipe off which meant the other 3 flats lost their water. He made it clear to us that he would not fix the actual system and this meant that the 2 options they had was to turn everyone’s water back on but that would require them to allow the “ flooding “ again or keep the pipe the way it was and no one has any water.
the housing was not responding to phone calls and if they did were saying well just wait. Eventually after 28 hours of no water they sent 4 bottles of water per houshold and told us their duty was done. It’s now 36 hours of no water and they have no one to fix the problem so have said that’s all they can do !

Is this acceptable or should they be offering more support ?

OP posts:
newornotnew · 11/02/2026 07:06

No it is not acceptable.
The duty to reinstate the supply sits with either the water company or the landlord depending on where the issue is. You should be provided with enough bottled water in this situation.

You say 'landlord association' so is this social housing? Are all flats in the building owned by the same organisation?

I suggest you ring Shelter today, or go to the Citizens Advice Bureau. Also email your ward councillor and MP today.

Shelter/CAB will advise you if rent can be withheld in your situation - never do this unless you have been told the law covers you.

Ilovethewild · 11/02/2026 07:00

repairs that are internal to the flats are down to owner/landlord. Water company tends to be responsible for repairs, issues & pipes up to the building.

its not clear where the repair is. Or if its owners or landlord, it depends on each flat.

every housing association or council has 24/7 emergency contact details for emergency repairs but initially it will be making safe.

contact them!

sakura06 · 11/02/2026 06:56

Whoever owns the freehold to the block should probably do the repair? Can you contact your council’s housing officer urgently? Having no water is completely unacceptable.

Tontostitis · 11/02/2026 06:55

Depends if it's the landlords or water boards job to repair it.

Theunamedcat · 11/02/2026 06:53

Whose responsibility is the repair?