Repairs in a Luxembourg rental: who pays for what

A boiler fails in February, a tap drips from the day you move in, a blind mechanism breaks, the neighbour's leak stains your ceiling. Each of these has a different answer, and the general principle behind them is straightforward: the landlord is responsible for keeping the property fit for its purpose, and the tenant is responsible for routine upkeep and for anything they damage. The arguments arise in the middle, and most of them can be prevented by a lease that is specific and an inventory that is honest.

The general division

• The landlord delivers a dwelling in a condition fit for the use for which it is let, and maintains it in that state. Structural elements, the roof, the fabric, the fixed heating installation, the plumbing and the electrical installation fall on this side, as does anything failing through age or normal use.
• The tenant uses the property as a careful occupier, carries out routine maintenance and small repairs, and answers for damage caused by their household or their guests.
• In an apartment, a third party is involved: the co-ownership, which is responsible for the common parts and the shared installations through the syndic. A problem in a communal riser is neither the landlord's fault nor the tenant's.

Typically the landlord's

• The boiler or heat pump, its replacement and its major repair.
• Radiators and the fixed heating distribution.
• Plumbing within the walls, and the sanitary fittings themselves.
• The electrical installation, the consumer unit and the fixed wiring.
• Windows, shutters and external doors, including their mechanisms when they fail with age.
• The roof, the facade, damp and insulation.
• Appliances provided with the property, in a furnished or part-furnished let, when they fail through normal use.
• Anything that makes the property unfit or unsafe.

Typically the tenant's

• Light bulbs, fuses and batteries in smoke detectors.
• Tap washers, aerators and shower heads where the issue is limescale or wear from use.
• Unblocking drains where the blockage was caused by use.
• Routine servicing where the lease imposes it, notably the annual boiler service in some contracts.
• Ventilation grille cleaning and filter changes.
• Small marks, minor damage and anything broken by the household.
• Keeping the property ventilated and heated sufficiently to avoid condensation damage.

That last item causes more disputes than any other. Mould in a modern, well-sealed apartment can be a ventilation failure by the occupier, a design or insulation failure of the building, or both. The honest test is whether the property can be kept dry with reasonable use. If a room grows mould despite normal heating and daily airing, that is a building problem.

The situations that generate the arguments

The appliance that fails in month three

In a furnished let, an appliance failing through normal use is the landlord's. If the inventory recorded it as working and it was not misused, the position is straightforward. This is another reason for a detailed entry inventory.

The problem you inherited

A dripping tap present on day one is not yours. Report it in writing within the first days and note it on the inventory. Reporting it two years later, when it has damaged the unit below, changes the analysis considerably.

The leak from upstairs

Notify the landlord and the syndic immediately, in writing, and photograph everything before anything is touched. Where the origin is in a neighbouring apartment or the common parts, several insurance policies interact and the process moves faster when everyone is informed on day one.

The urgent repair on a Sunday

Where a repair is genuinely urgent and the landlord cannot be reached, act to prevent further damage, document why, keep the invoice, and notify in writing as soon as possible. Commissioning non-urgent work and presenting the bill afterwards is a different matter and is rarely recoverable.

How to report a problem so that it gets fixed

• In writing, always, even if you have already telephoned. Email is sufficient for most things; a registered letter for anything serious or unresolved.
• Describe the problem, not the solution. What is happening, since when, in which room.
• Photographs, dated.
• A reasonable deadline, proportionate to the urgency.
• Keep the thread. One continuous exchange is worth more than five separate messages.

Where a landlord does not act on a genuine obligation, the escalation runs through a registered letter setting a deadline, then the commune's rent commission or the justice of the peace. Withholding rent unilaterally is not the route and generally weakens the tenant's position.

If you are letting property

Two things reduce repair disputes to almost nothing. The first is a lease that specifies which routine servicing falls on the tenant, particularly the boiler, rather than leaving it to general principle. The second is responding quickly to small things. A tap fixed within a week costs a call-out. The same tap ignored for a year costs a floor.

Preventive habits that avoid the argument entirely

Most repair disputes concern damage that developed slowly and was noticed late. A short list of habits removes a large share of them.

• Ventilate briefly and fully, twice a day. Opening windows wide for a few minutes exchanges the air without cooling the structure. Leaving a window ajar for hours does the opposite and encourages condensation on cold surfaces.
• Keep furniture a few centimetres off external walls so air can move behind it. Wardrobes flat against a cold wall are where mould appears first.
• Run the extraction after showering, not only during, and clean the grille or filter periodically.
• Do not let a room fall cold and unused. An unheated spare bedroom with the door closed collects the moisture generated everywhere else.
• Report small things early and in writing. A dripping tap, a sticking window, a slow drain. Each is trivial now and expensive in a year.
• Photograph anything that appears, dated, from the first time you see it.

The written record of an early report is what determines who pays later. It costs one email.

Three questions we are asked

Can I withhold rent until a repair is done?

It is not the recommended route and it exposes you to a claim for unpaid rent. The proper sequence is a written request, a registered letter with a deadline, and then the rent commission or the court. Document everything as you go.

Who services the boiler?

Whichever the lease says, which is why it is worth reading that clause before you need it. Many Luxembourg leases place the annual service on the tenant and the repair and replacement on the landlord. Where the lease is silent, the general division applies.

The apartment has mould. Whose problem is it?

It depends on whether reasonable heating and ventilation would prevent it. Ventilate briefly and fully rather than leaving a window ajar, keep furniture off external walls, and report it in writing early with photographs. Early written reporting is what allows the cause to be established while it can still be established.

How we handle this

On managed properties we handle the repair chain ourselves, which means the tenant reports once and does not have to work out whether the problem belongs to the owner, the syndic or the neighbour's insurer.

Current availability is on our rentals page .

One of the easiest mistakes around how we handle this is judging the visible result while ignoring the process that produces it. For the question raised by “How we handle this”, the useful detail is not a generic list of advantages. Then ask what happens when one assumption fails.

For typically the landlord's, note what you can see, what you can measure, what you need to ask and what would be expensive to change. For the question raised by “How we handle this”, the useful detail is not a generic list of advantages.

When comparing two options on the general division, avoid scoring them only on the feature named in the title. For the question raised by “The general division”, the useful detail is not a generic list of advantages.

A useful editorial test for the situations that generate the arguments is to look at the consequence rather than the headline feature.