Skip to the content

No hot water

No hot water? Here is what to write, and what happens after you send it.

A phone call is easy to forget and impossible to prove later. A short written notice, sent once, is usually what starts the process the law actually gives you, wherever you are. Here is what it should say.

Start with one propertySee the sample notice

Nothing is switched on until you say so.

No hot water, start to finish

  1. FirstRule out the five-minute fixes
  2. The same daySend a short written notice
  3. Varies by placeThe landlord's time to fix it
  4. Only if nothing happensThe next step, set locally
Check, write, wait for the date you named, and only then escalate. How long each wait lasts depends on where you live.

Before you write

Rule out the five-minute fixes first

A tripped switch or a pilot light that went out is not a repair request. Four quick looks, none of which means opening anything up.

  1. 1

    The boiler or water heater display

    Note any error code or warning light, and whether the pressure gauge sits in its normal range. Write it down either way: it goes in the notice.

  2. 2

    The breaker or fuse

    An electric water heater often has its own circuit. If that switch has tripped, reset it once. If it trips again, leave it.

  3. 3

    The pilot light or gas supply

    On a gas heater, check the pilot is lit and the gas works elsewhere, at the hob for example. Relight it only if the unit's own instructions say you may.

  4. 4

    Whether it is just you

    Ask a neighbour. If the whole building is cold, it is a supply fault, and the landlord or building manager still needs to be told.

If you smell gasLeave, do not touch any switch, and from outside call the gas emergency line or the emergency services. That comes before any notice.

Still no hot water?Then it is a repair, and the next step is to put it in writing. Say what you checked: it shows the fault is real.

Four checks before writing: the boiler display, the breaker, the pilot light, and the neighbours.

The notice itself

What a formal notice should actually say

Five things, in order. This is a communication template, not a legal document, so it does not need a lawyer, just to say the right things clearly.

Sample notice
From[Your name and email]
To[Landlord, or whoever manages the property]
SubjectNo hot water at [Address] since [date]

Dear [Landlord name],

Since [date and time the problem started], there has been no hot water at [Address].

No tap and no shower runs hot. The boiler shows [error code, or nothing at all]. I have checked the breaker and the pilot light, and it is still not working.

Please arrange for the hot water supply to be repaired.

Please confirm by [date] when a repair is booked, and have it working again by [date].

If nothing has happened by [date], I will [the next step that applies where I live, for example contacting the local housing authority].

I can give access for the repair on [days and times]. You can reach me on [phone number].

Kind regards, [Your name]

Keep a copy of what you sent and proof that it arrived. The numbers match the checklist beside it.

  1. The date the problem started, as precisely as you can put it

  2. What is actually broken: no hot water at all, or only sometimes, and in which part of the property

  3. A clear, specific request: fix it, not please look into this

  4. A reasonable deadline, as a real date rather than soon

  5. What you will do if nothing has happened by that date

Why the notice matters more than the phone call

A written notice is the record everything after it depends on

Keep a copy of what you sent, and proof it arrived. Almost every remedy that exists if the repair does not happen assumes you can show a landlord was actually told, and when.

A phone call

  • No date anyone else can see
  • No record of what you asked for
  • Easy to forget, hard to prove

A written notice

  • Dated, with proof that it arrived
  • Says exactly what is broken and what you asked for
  • Usually what starts the clock
A phone call leaves nothing to rely on later. A written notice leaves a dated record of what was asked.

Send it in a way you can prove

Use a method that leaves proof of sending and, ideally, of receipt: tracked post, or an email you can show was sent and read. Which methods count is set locally. A conversation nobody else heard is hard to rely on later.

It is what starts the clock

In most places, the deadline a landlord has to act, and what you are allowed to do next if they do not, only starts running once they have actually been told in a way that counts.

After you send it

What happens next, in order

The notice starts a wait, and the length of that wait is set locally. What holds everywhere is the order things happen in, and the two ways it ends.

  1. When you send itThe landlord has been told, in writing
  2. Varies by placeThe landlord's time to actHow long depends on where the property is and how urgent the fault is. The panel further down says what applies where it has been researched.
  3. The date you namedYour deadline arrives

FixedConfirm in writing that the hot water works again, and keep the whole thread together.

Not fixedThe next step is set locally: a housing authority, a rent tribunal or a court. Check the rules where you live before withholding any rent.

Notice sent, the landlord's time to act, the date you named, then fixed or escalated. The wait in the middle has no single length.

By country

What the landlord owes, and what comes after

How long a landlord actually has, and what happens if the deadline passes, is set locally. Here is what applies where your tenancy stands.

Elsewhere

General guidance
  • A working hot water supply is close to a universal basic-habitability expectation.
  • The notice process and the remedies available if it is ignored are set locally, not by any single international rule.

We have not researched this jurisdiction. Check local law before withholding rent or taking any other step beyond the written notice.

If you're the landlord reading this

The email that ends up in your inbox, handled properly

A hot water complaint that sits unread is how a repair request turns into a legal claim. Dardaris keeps it from sitting there.

Repair request

No hot water

Dokkaai 12, 1F · S. Vermeulen

  1. Mon 07:52Email from the tenant: no hot water since last nightFiled
  2. Mon 07:53Filed against the lease for Dokkaai 12, 1FFiled
  3. Mon 07:55Reply drafted from the tenancy record, for you to sendWaits for you
  4. Mon 09:10Work order raised with the plumber you choseFiled
  5. Wed 14:30Work completed, and the tenant confirms hot water is backDone
Every step keeps its time, so if anyone asks later when you were told and what you did, the answer is already written down.

  • Filed against the tenancy it belongs to

    Every message a tenant sends is kept against their own lease and history, not lost in a general inbox.

  • A drafted reply, never sent without you

    Dardaris can draft a reply grounded in the tenant's actual records, for you to read and send yourself, not send on its own.

  • The repair on the same record

    The work order, the contractor you chose and the day it was finished sit on the same unit as the message that started it.

  • What your jurisdiction actually requires

    Surfaced from your building's own jurisdiction pack, so the deadline you're working against is a real one, not a guess.

Start with one property

Questions people ask about no hot water

Is hot water a landlord's responsibility?

Almost everywhere, yes. A working hot water supply sits inside the basic habitability standard nearly every jurisdiction sets for a rented home, whether or not the lease says so explicitly. Check the panel above for what applies specifically where your tenancy stands.

How long does a landlord have to fix it?

There is no single answer. It is set locally, and it usually depends on how the notice was sent and what it asked for. A clear written notice with a real deadline is what most processes are built around, and it is worth sending one even before you know exactly how long the law gives.

What if nothing happens after the notice?

The next step is set locally too: escalating to a housing authority, a rent tribunal, or the courts, in some places withholding or reducing rent, though that particular step can backfire if done the wrong way. Check the jurisdiction panel above before doing anything beyond the notice itself.

What should I check before telling my landlord?

The boiler or water heater display for an error code, the breaker or fuse for an electric heater, the pilot light on a gas one, and whether your neighbours have hot water. None of it means opening the unit. If you smell gas, leave and call the gas emergency line or the emergency services first.

Can I pay for the repair myself and take it off the rent?

Only where local law allows it, and usually only after a proper written notice and a real chance for the landlord to act. Check the jurisdiction panel above first: done the wrong way, it can put you in the wrong instead of the landlord.

Keep every repair request where you can actually find it.

One building, free to start: Dardaris files what tenants tell you, and drafts the reply for you to send.

Start with one property

Nothing to move first · Nothing switched on until you say so