Property Maintenance in London Blocks of Flats: A Landlord's Guide

London's flat-dwelling population is substantial — a large proportion of the capital's rental stock consists of flats within leasehold buildings, managed under the terms of long leases between freeholders and leaseholders. When a leaseholder rents their flat to a tenant, the resulting maintenance obligations span three parties: the freeholder (or managing agent acting on their behalf), the leaseholder-landlord, and the tenant. Misunderstanding this structure is a common source of delays, disputes and avoidable costs.

The Freeholder's Obligations

In a typical London residential block, the freeholder — or a residents' management company or right-to-manage company where leaseholders have exercised collective control — is responsible for maintaining the structure and common parts of the building. This typically includes:

• External walls, roof, foundations and structural elements
• Common entrances, stairwells, lifts and shared corridors
• Shared drainage infrastructure, including soil stacks and communal waste pipes within the building fabric
• Shared heating or hot water systems where the building operates a communal boiler
• External gutters and downpipes

These obligations are typically set out in the lease — most long residential leases in London specify the landlord's (freeholder's) repair covenant in detail. The freeholder funds these repairs through service charges levied on leaseholders.

The Leaseholder-Landlord's Obligations

A leaseholder who rents their flat to a tenant holds a dual role: they are a tenant in relation to the freeholder, and a landlord in relation to their subtenant. Their maintenance obligations fall into two categories:

Obligations under the lease (to the freeholder): Most long leases require the leaseholder to maintain the interior of the flat, including internal plasterwork, internal pipe runs, non-structural walls, internal doors, and the fitted installations within the flat. Failure to maintain the flat's interior can constitute a breach of lease covenant, potentially leading to forfeiture proceedings in extreme cases.

Obligations under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (to the tenant): Regardless of the lease structure, the leaseholder-landlord is subject to Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 in relation to their tenant. This requires them to keep in repair the structure and installations within the demised premises — the let flat — including water supply pipes, drainage, heating and sanitary fittings. This obligation applies irrespective of how lease obligations are structured between the leaseholder and the freeholder.

Where Responsibility Overlaps: Shared Drainage

Drainage in a block of flats is one of the most contested areas of maintenance responsibility. The physical pipe runs typically fall into three categories:

• Individual waste pipes within the flat — from basin, bath, shower, and WC to the point where they connect to the shared soil stack — are generally the leaseholder-landlord's responsibility.
• The shared soil stack — which runs vertically through the building collecting waste from multiple flats — is generally the freeholder's responsibility to maintain, as it forms part of the building's structure.
• The drain run from the building to the public sewer — whether a private drain serving only that building or a shared drain serving multiple buildings — is the freeholder's responsibility for the section within the building's boundary, and Thames Water's responsibility once it connects to the public sewer.

In practice, when a blockage occurs in a shared soil stack, there can be initial dispute between the leaseholder-landlord (who has a tenant making the complaint) and the managing agent (who controls the freeholder's maintenance budget). The leaseholder-landlord should report drainage issues affecting the shared stack to the managing agent in writing and request urgent action, while keeping the tenant informed of the process.

Service Charges and Major Works

Major building works — including roof replacement, external decoration, communal boiler replacement or structural repairs — are funded through service charges. Leaseholder-landlords should budget for major works contributions and understand their rights under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (as amended by the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002) to challenge unreasonable service charges through the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).

For significant works costing more than £250 per leaseholder, the freeholder must follow a formal Section 20 consultation process before awarding the contract. Failure to do so caps the leaseholder's contribution to that project at £250, regardless of the actual cost. Leaseholder-landlords who receive a Section 20 notice should respond within the consultation period to protect their interests.

Gas Safety in Blocks With Individual Boilers

Where each flat has its own gas boiler, the annual gas safety inspection and CP12 certificate are the individual leaseholder-landlord's responsibility — not the freeholder's. The freeholder is responsible only for shared gas installations, including any communal boiler plant and the gas supply pipework to the building.

Leaseholder-landlords must ensure:

• Annual gas safety inspection by a Gas Safe registered engineer
• CP12 certificate issued to the tenant before the tenancy starts and within 28 days of each subsequent annual inspection
• Boiler serviced annually to maintain warranty and maximise lifespan

In buildings managed by active residents' management companies, some London blocks have adopted a coordinated approach — arranging building-wide gas safety inspections with a single contractor to reduce costs and administrative burden. This is worth raising at management company meetings if your block does not already do this.

Practical Steps for Leaseholder-Landlords

• Read your lease carefully and note which repair obligations sit with you versus the freeholder. If in doubt, instruct a solicitor familiar with residential leasehold to advise.
• Maintain direct communication with the managing agent, particularly for issues involving shared components — document everything in writing.
• Arrange annual gas safety inspections independently, as these are always your obligation as the leaseholder-landlord.
• Check whether the building has buildings insurance arranged by the freeholder (standard in most blocks) and whether your tenant's contents and your landlord's liability insurance dovetail correctly with it.
• Act promptly on any repair issue within your flat. Delay can constitute breach of your Section 11 obligations to your tenant and — if the damage spreads to the flat below or the shared structure — a breach of your lease obligations to the freeholder.