Is this a tenant's responsibility or a landlord's?

[WhoWants2Know]

Just wondering, if you have experience as a landlord or renting, who takes care of clearing the gutters?

Is it like changing the lightbulbs or emptying the cesspit, so the tenant does it?

Or is it more like when the toilet keeps running or the boiler plays up, and the landlord sorts it out?

Landlord.

Tenant

I think the tenant is responsible for maintaining the property and garden, and therefore the gutter. If the gutter was faulty then the landlord should fix it.

Landlord, it's maintenance work.

If it was ever the tenants responsibility it would be the exception, stated as such in the first place, and not your average private rent house.

It should say in your contract. My current contract says I have responsibility for keeping gutters clear, though I've also had contracts that say this will be the LL's responsibility. You can usually ask a window cleaner if he/she can do the gutters at the same time. However, if a gutter has become dislodged or something like that, I'd expect it would be the LL's responsibility.

(And I agree with trainspotting that if the contract doesn't say anything, you would assume it is the LL's job.)

Depends on what your tenancy agreement says- contract is king. In a HA house it’s generally the tenant, flats then landlord.

Keeping things clear tennant, fixing it landlord.

As a landlord, I would say it was the landlord's responsibility.

Keeping gutters clear is what a normal householder would do and comes within Lord Dennings judgment in Warren and Keene 1953 which is still good law, in which hestated in hisjudgement, 'Thetenantmust take proper care of the place. ... In short, he must do the little jobs about the place which a reasonabletenantwould do

That's less than even vaguely helpful, isn't it, @jonb6? Seeing as how the OP is seeking clarification on precisely the point where that judgment offers no clarification?

Literally my landlord did my gutters this week, but I am responsible for the window and chimney cleaning.

We have it written in our tenancy agreement that tennants do it, however, we make sure they’re clear when someone is moving in.

as landlord i'd take responsibility for it. it would be lovely to ask/tell the tenant it was for them to do, but at the end of the day, if they don't, it is my walls. my property that gets damp - so i'd always make sure it was done myself.

I am a social tenant - my landlord takes responsibility for clearing gutters.

Under the landlord and Tenant act and housing act it is the Landlords responsibility to repair and keep in good order.

Lol, well that's cleared that up, then!😁

I don't see it specifically covered in my agreement, which is why I was unsure.

The landlord did clear them himself once previously with a long telescopic pole thing, but it was more a case that he noticed it needed doing and did it.

He's been in poorer health recently and I don't think he's able to do it himself now.

I'm assuming the problem is a blockage from moss, nests, etc. But the only way for me to be sure is to get a person up a ladder and clear them. Love an unexpected bill in January!

They are responsible to repair and keep in good order.

the structure of the Premises and exterior (including drains, gutters and pipes);
certain installations for the supply of water, electricity and gas;
sanitary appliances including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences;
space heating and water heating;
but not other fixtures, fittings, and appliances for making use of the supply of water and electricity.

Clearing/maintaining gutters is Landlord's responsibility unless stated in the contract. I've been in rented for almost seven years and had to research these things as first landlord we had was terrible and did basically nothing!! Current Landlord is much better 😊

Basic maintenance - tenant. As pp said window cleaner will do it.

Landlord

Landlord in my tenancy agreement (social housing) They deal (or in theory, because they’re shit) with maintenance and repair of the exterior.

Basic maintenance tenant. Keeping gutters clear I would say is definitely a basic expectation.

Fixing anything (say a broken or dripping gutter) landlord.

Have been both a landlord and a tenant for some years and that is my expectation.

I was told by my letting agent that anything requiring a ladder was landlord responsibility- gutters are landlord responsibility.

I can tell you what we would do in this situation with our current tenants. We would tell them to sort out it being cleared and to send us the bill.

It might be worth trying that if the LL is in poor health.

We usually do that for smaller things as we live hours away from our property. (On one memorable occasion a previous tenant refused to literally change a lightbulb and so DH went on a 120 mile round trip to do it). In our current place (which we rent) we do loads of maintenance ourselves, but we inform the LL in advance in case she objects). She appreciates it.

So might be worth just having the chat to your LL. See if you can come to an agreement.