Call of the month: Responsibility for cleaning leaves from gutter

This month helped one of our members with a query relating to the cleaning of gutters, which always comes around at this time of year as we approach the autumn.

Their tenant had reported an issue with what sounded like dripping from the gutter. Our member suspected this was due to leaves clogging up the gutter. They were looking for some guidance on who would be obliged to keep the gutters clean and free from debris.

The advice

Our advisor began by explaining to our member what the law says about property repairs.

Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 creates a legal obligation for the landlord to keep the structure and exterior of the property in repair. So, if there was an actual issue with the state of repair of the gutter and it was broken, we would say that the landlord should fix that legally.

Most of the time however, the gutter isn’t broken but is just clogging up with debris and simply needs cleaning out. This isn’t resolved by a piece of legislation, so it’s best for landlords to think practically.

They should ask the tenant when is a good time to visit the property and ideally take a look up at the gutter.

If the landlord were to put the responsibility onto the tenant, there are a few reasons why the tenant may not do it.

They may not feel comfortable climbing up ladders, or simply may not have any to go up in the first place, and there is the risk they may fall from them if improperly used. Occasionally some tenants may simply decide they would rather breach this term of the contract and have the money deducted from their deposit than actually clean the gutter. This doesn’t help the landlord if their main aim is not to deduct money but to just have the odd jobs done around the property.

There is the concept of behaving in a tenant like manner also. This comes from case law and is essentially that the tenant does the jobs around the property that an owner occupier might do. Things that don’t need specialist equipment or knowhow, changing lightbulbs, sweeping up and so on. Gutter cleaning could arguably come under this requirement, but as we have mentioned a tenant still may not do it.