If you rent a flat in Manchester and the boiler breaks in January, should you attempt a DIY fix, or call your landlord and insist on a repair within the legal timescale?

Hello, I'm Wilson, and thanks for a question that matters most on a cold January night. You rent a flat in Manchester, the boiler has stopped, and you want to know whether to roll up your sleeves or ring your landlord and hold them to the law. The real question is a little different. First, where does your job end and theirs begin? Second, what does the law actually promise you? On the first point there is a hard line, because most Manchester flats run on gas, and a gas boiler is not something a tenant should ever open up. On the second point there is a surprise, because there is no single fixed legal deadline for a private landlord to finish a repair. The law says the work must be done within a reasonable time, and what counts as reasonable depends on how serious the problem is. No heating and no hot water in midwinter sits right at the serious end. So my answer is to call the landlord, but only after a few safe checks that cost nothing.

Here is the reasoning. The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1985 makes your landlord responsible for keeping the installations that supply heating and hot water in …