A new survey suggests that landlords are being called on to deal with ‘emergencies’ that turn out to be anything but.
A Direct Line business insurance survey shows that almost two-thirds (65%) of landlords say they have been called to fix minor issues that many tenants could probably resolve themselves.
These include requests to change a lightbulb (22%), remove carpet stains (18%), help getting into the property when drunk (17%) or changing a dishwasher filter (15%).
While these non-urgent callouts might be frustrating, landlords are also dealing with a high volume of genuine emergencies. In the last 12 months, almost two-thirds (62%) of landlords have had to call an emergency contractor to visit one of their properties with almost three quarters (72%) of call outs happening outside normal working hours.
The average cost of emergency repairs is £621, although costs can often be much higher. For example, 9% of landlords have dealt with roofing problems costing over £2,500 to resolve on average, 8% have paid out similar amounts to fix heating issues and 6% of landlords have faced similar costs to sort plumbing and drainage issues.
Top three tenant emergency requests and landlord costs
| Emergency Request | Average Cost of Repair |
| Heating faults | £816 |
| Electrical faults | £744 |
| Plumbing faults | £660 |
The leading cause of emergency tenant requests is boiler or heating failure, accounting for 39% of call-outs. This issue is particularly urgent during colder months, as it directly affects tenant comfort and safety. Other common emergencies include water leaks (35%), lack of hot water (28%), and blocked drains or toilets (28%).
Top 10 reasons for emergency tenant requests
| Reason | Percentage of landlords |
| Boiler/heating not working | 39% |
| Water leak | 35% |
| No hot water | 28% |
| Blocked toilet/drain | 28% |
| No electricity | 23% |
| Broken door lock | 23% |
| Burst/damaged pipe | 23% |
| Structural damage e.g. ceiling collapse, leaking roof | 15% |
| Vermin/pest infestation | 15% |
| Broken window | 15% |
Only half (49%) of emergencies reported by tenants required the landlord to call a tradesperson. In a fifth of cases (21%) the landlord was able to resolve the problem themselves and in 11% of cases the landlord was able to talk the tenant through fixing the problem.
Regardless of how an issue is resolved, handling an emergency well can improve tenant/landlord relationships, with 22% of landlords saying they now get on better with their tenants after sorting a problem.
A Direct Line business insurance spokesperson says:“Tenants call on their landlord for all sorts of issues, and while some requests may raise an eyebrow, landlords also need to deal with genuine emergencies, such as no heating or water leaks, that can cost hundreds—or even thousands—of pounds to fix. When that happens, landlords are under pressure to respond quickly and effectively to property emergencies. The good news is that handling these situations well can help strengthen the landlord-tenant relationship.”
