Rent, rehousing and benefits when your rented home floods

If your rented home floods, the short answer is that you usually keep paying rent, even if you cannot live there. You can ask your landlord to suspend rent payments, and you can ask for a rent reduction or refund until the property is fixed¹. In Wales, from 1 December 2022 onwards, you may not have to pay rent for any time the property is unfit for human habitation².

Your landlord is responsible for most repairs to the property after a flood, and their buildings insurance could cover the flood damage³. Your own belongings are a different matter: your landlord is not responsible for replacing or repairing any of your personal belongings that are flood damaged, and the landlord's insurance will not cover them¹.

If you have to move out, who rehouses you depends on who your landlord is. A community landlord in Wales should provide temporary accommodation if you have to move out because of a flood³. A private landlord is not usually responsible for finding you somewhere else to live, though they may have insurance that pays for alternative accommodation³. In England, your council must give you emergency accommodation if you are homeless after flooding¹.

Rent while your home is unfit to live in

The starting position is that rent continues. You must keep paying the rent even if your home is being repaired and you can use only one or two rooms³. If you cannot live in your home, you can ask your landlord to suspend rent payments¹. You can also ask your landlord for a rent reduction or refund until the property is fixed¹.

The rules differ across the UK. In Wales, from 1 December 2022 onwards, you may not have to pay rent for any time that the property is unfit for human habitation². That is a stronger position than the general rule that rent continues, and it turns on whether the property is fit to live in rather than on whether repairs are under way.

If you move out for repairs, get a written agreement from your landlord confirming that you had to move out because of flooding and that you will be able to move back in after the repair work is finished³. That record matters if there is later a dispute about what you owe or about your right to return.

Rent arrears have consequences. If you do not pay, your landlord might evict you from your home, after following the correct process and obtaining the correct legal documents⁵. Water charges can add to this: where water rates are included in your rent, water arrears can count as rent arrears and could lead to court action to repossess your home, so treat water rates arrears as a priority payment⁶.

Your landlord's repair duties after a flood

If you rent your home, your landlord will be responsible for most repairs to the property after a flood, and their buildings insurance could cover flood damage³. That is the core of the division of responsibility: the building and its structure are the landlord's problem, your possessions are yours.

For shared owners, the split is set out in the lease. During the initial repair period, the landlord is responsible for the cost of essential repairs to the outside of the building and essential structural repairs to walls, floors, ceiling and stairs inside your home⁹. If you break the terms of your lease, for example by causing damage on purpose or not arranging routine servicing and maintenance, your landlord will not need to pay for repairs they are normally responsible for⁹.

If you own your home rather than rent it, you are usually responsible for repairs due to flood damage¹. If you own a leasehold flat, check whether your freeholder's insurance covers repair costs, because buildings insurance should cover flood risks¹.

Temporary accommodation: who pays and who rehouses you

Who finds you somewhere to stay depends on your landlord. If you rent from a community landlord, they should provide temporary accommodation if you have to move out because of a flood³. Council and housing association landlords might have to give you somewhere to stay if flooding in your home is an emergency hazard¹.

A private landlord is not usually responsible for finding you somewhere else to live if you have to move out due to a flood, but they may have insurance that pays for alternative accommodation³. If you rent from a private landlord, the practical route is often your own insurance or the council.

You will usually have to pay rent for temporary accommodation, but you may qualify for financial support¹¹. Emergency housing works the same way: you will have to pay rent, but you may qualify for Housing Benefit⁵.

Your own home insurance may help. Policies generally include cover for temporary accommodation if your home has been made uninhabitable¹². Home emergency insurance is different: if your home is unsafe or uninhabitable, your policy might also provide alternative accommodation while the problem is being fixed¹⁰.

Housing Benefit and Universal Credit if you have to move out

You could get the Universal Credit housing element if you have to move out because of essential repairs¹. You can get a housing element if you have to pay rent and some service charges, or other occupation charges where you live¹³. Whether you are working or not, you might be entitled to Housing Benefit or Universal Credit housing costs to help pay the rent, based on your circumstances including your income and who is living in the house¹⁴.

Housing Benefit has its own conditions. You must be responsible for paying the rent on the home where you normally live, have a low enough income, and not be getting Universal Credit¹⁵. If your Local Housing Allowance is less than your rent, your Housing Benefit or Universal Credit will not cover your full rent, and you will have to make up the shortfall or seek cheaper accommodation¹⁶.

There are limits. You will not get a housing element if you do not rent your home¹⁷. Permanent care home residents cannot get support for housing costs, because care home charges are not payment of rent¹⁸. Universal Credit housing costs are not available if you live in supported or sheltered housing giving care, support or supervision, a refuge for survivors of domestic abuse, or temporary accommodation arranged by NIHE because you are homeless¹⁹. People in certain accommodation such as supported housing may need to claim Housing Benefit for rent while still getting Universal Credit for other costs²⁰.

You may get help with rent for two homes at the same time in limited situations, including if your local authority has put your family in two homes because your family is big, if you had to leave your home because of fear of violence or abuse and are paying rent somewhere else with a plan to go back, or if you have moved into a new rented home with a disabled family member that has not yet been adapted to their needs¹³.

If your rent increases, you must tell the council's Housing Benefit team or Universal Credit²¹. If your housing element is paid to you and you stop paying your rent, your landlord can ask to have your future housing element paid directly to them¹⁹.

Your belongings: contents insurance and what the landlord does not cover

Your landlord is not responsible for replacing or repairing any of your personal belongings that are flood damaged¹. The landlord's insurance will not provide cover for them, so tenants must insure their own possessions⁴. While your landlord is responsible for arranging buildings insurance, you will need to have a home contents insurance policy¹².

Renters only need to buy contents insurance, because the landlord will be responsible for arranging buildings insurance²². If you are renting you probably do not need buildings cover, and if it is a leasehold flat the building may be insured by the freeholder²³.

If your home is flooded, check whether your insurance covers repair costs, replacing your belongings, another place to stay, and legal cover and legal advice¹. If you own a leasehold flat, check whether your freeholder's insurance covers repair costs, because buildings insurance should cover flood risks¹.

Where to get help if your landlord will not act

If your landlord will not carry out repairs, you may be able to get support from your council, or take your landlord to court²⁶. Your local council can investigate prohibited payments and can help you get the money back, and can also make your landlord pay a fine²⁷.

If you are a shared owner who cannot pay rent, contact your housing association directly, and they will support and advise you²⁸. If you have a guarantor and you do not pay what you owe as a guarantor, the landlord can take legal action against you to recover the costs²⁹.

There are also rules on what a landlord can deduct from your deposit. Where the deposit was paid directly to the landlord and a new agent took over management later, you can claim compensation if the landlord did not protect the deposit or send you the written information within 30 days when you first paid it, and did not pass the deposit to the agent³⁰.

If you are buying your home under Right to Buy, your landlord is not bound to complete the sale if you have not paid all the rent or any other payment within 4 weeks from the date you were asked to pay it³¹.