Minor repairs: who pays and how to put it in writing to avoid disputes
A dripping tap, a loose hinge, a blocked trap. None of it costs much, and yet it can sour the relationship between owner and tenant for the whole tenancy. Because the dispute is rarely about the amount. It is about what nobody settled in writing beforehand: who was supposed to replace the washer, who was supposed to pay the plumber’s call-out fee, and whether the report ever reached anyone at all. Working with tenanto users I see the same pattern over and over - fault reports come back only when the deposit is settled, sometimes six months later, when both sides remember nothing but their own version. On the market, the split of costs looks roughly simple: day-to-day upkeep and minor wear go to the tenant, failures of the building systems and permanent fixtures go to the owner. Except that in practice a dispute is settled by three things: the list in the contract, the handover report and the history of fault reports.
What usually counts as a minor repair and what counts as a breakdown
The dividing line runs between everyday use and a fault in a permanent fixture. Everything tied to daily use of the flat and normal maintenance sits on the tenant’s side. Damage to the building systems, or wear of a component that goes beyond maintenance, is the owner’s business.
Typically on the tenant’s side:
- replacing light bulbs, fuses and batteries in smoke detectors
- washers, filters, aerators and small tap fittings
- clearing drains, maintaining window and door hardware, adjusting doors
- painting and small touch-ups after ordinary use
Typically on the owner’s side:
- water, sewage, electrical and gas systems
- heating, boiler, radiators
- windows and doors
- appliances that come with the flat
There is a third category everyone forgets about: damage caused by the tenant. That falls on them regardless of the amount and regardless of which side the item would normally sit on. The regulations divide the duties fairly broadly, so the line can blur. For more expensive matters it is better to have a lawyer check the specific clause. It is also worth checking what the landlord insurance policy for a rented flat covers, because some system failures and water damage can be settled with the insurer instead of out of your own pocket.
The contract clause: a cash threshold and a closed list instead of vague wording
The most common mistake in the contracts users send us is the sentence “minor repairs are the tenant’s responsibility” with no definition of a minor repair at all. Such a clause settles nothing, because each side reads it their own way. Two mechanisms work, and they work best together: a cash threshold per single repair, and a list of categories written out in the contract itself.
It is worth tying the threshold to the rent rather than to some random figure fixed once and for all - otherwise it stops making sense after two years. Add one sentence on who decides to order a repair above the threshold. And describe separately the situation where the tenant arranges a repair themselves: the owner’s consent is required, and the cost is reimbursed on the basis of an invoice issued to the correct details.
Tip: write into the contract the channel for reporting faults and a response deadline. Without it, the classic “but I did report it” versus “nothing ever reached me” cannot be settled. It is worth writing such a clause into the contract from the start, and a document that is already signed gets corrected with an annex. Keep both in one rental document base.
The handover report as the point of reference
Without a documented starting condition you cannot show that anything was damaged during the tenancy. The report is the only document that turns a discussion about impressions into a comparison of two descriptions of the same flat. settling renovation costs works the same way, because it also comes down to what both sides wrote down before the work started.
It should cover the condition of each room described separately, an inventory of the furnishings with serial numbers of the appliances, all meter readings, and the number of keys and remotes handed over. Photos with a visible date are part of the report, not a loose album on a phone (those get lost a year later anyway when the device changes). We described this in detail in the piece on how to prepare a flat handover report and link it to the deposit.
At the end of the tenancy you draw up a move-out report and compare it item by item with the move-in one. That is what settles the deposit. Not either side’s memory. The pattern is plain to see: owners who keep the report and the photos in one place next to the property record return to deposit disputes far less often than those who dig through their email inbox.
Fault report history: why texts and phone calls are not enough
Reports scattered across text messages, chat apps and phone calls disappear exactly when they are needed. You cannot replay a phone call, and a thread from a year ago can be impossible to find.
The trail should record the full set: date of the report, description of the fault, a photo, the decision on who covers the cost, the date the problem was fixed, the amount and the purchase document. Such a chain of entries also answers a harder question than who caused the damage - whether this is natural wear or neglect. The tenant reported a leaking valve immediately and the response came a quarter later? Responsibility falls differently than with a problem that built up for months without a word.
That is why the history of faults should belong to a specific flat, not to the owner’s memory. The simplest way is to keep it where you keep rental tasks in one place, next to the contract and the reports. What else goes into handling a tenancy is covered by the list of features.
Tip: with every repair, note straight away whose money paid for it. A year later nobody will reconstruct that.
Settling repairs against the deposit and when the tenant changes
The deposit is security for the end of the tenancy, not a buffer for repairs during the contract. Dipping into it halfway through leaves the owner with no security and creates another dispute - this time about topping the amount back up.
An effective deduction requires showing three things at once: the starting condition from the report, the damage that occurred and the actual cost of putting it right. Miss one element and you probably will not defend the deduction. Give the tenant the list of deductions in writing, together with the cost documents.
Depreciation of the furnishings is a separate matter. A washing machine or a carpet wears out without anyone being at fault, so charging the tenant the full replacement cost of an appliance several years old is often successfully challenged. It is more sensible to settle the loss of value rather than the price of a new unit.
Signs that it is time for legal advice: the disputed amount is growing, the tenant is challenging the content of the report, or the case involves damage to the building systems where the safety of the building is at stake.
Checklist: the minimum that closes the subject of minor repairs
Before you sign the next contract, go through six points:
- A repairs clause with a cash threshold tied to the rent and a list of categories on both sides.
- A move-in report with photos, meter readings and appliance serial numbers, signed by both sides.
- One channel for reporting faults named in the contract along with the owner’s response deadline.
- A rule for ordering repairs: consent before the order, reimbursement on the basis of a document.
- A repair log with costs and invoices, kept up to date for each flat.
- A move-out report and a written deposit settlement with proof of costs attached.
Six items. Each takes a quarter of an hour when the contract is signed and saves weeks of correspondence when it ends. We have gathered more lists like this in our advice for rental property owners.
FAQ and summary
Can the tenant arrange a repair themselves and deduct the cost from the rent?
In practice such a one-sided deduction is the shortest route to a row. Without a contract clause allowing that route and without the owner’s prior consent, the tenant risks the amount being treated as rent arrears, with the owner challenging both the scope and the price of the service. The safe order is different: report the fault, get the owner’s consent for the specific job, then claim the cost back on the basis of an invoice. One more thing - if the case involves a failure that threatens the flat and the owner does not respond, it gets more complex and is better discussed with a lawyer than handled on instinct.
A dispute over minor repairs almost always comes from a lack of documentation, not from a lack of good will on either side. Three pillars are enough to head it off: a precise contract clause, a report with photos and a complete history of fault reports. Want to see how it works in practice? The free plan for a single flat in tenanto covers one unit and one user, with no time limit.
