Repairs

Reporting a problem (tenants)

1. Go to Repairs → Report a problemChoose what kind of problem it is — plumbing, electrical, structural, appliance, pests, security, cleaning or other.
2. Describe itA short title and what's happening: where it is, when it started, whether it's getting worse.
3. Say how urgent it isCan wait, Soon, Urgent or Emergency. Emergency is for flooding, no power, a gas smell, a broken lock or anything unsafe.
4. Add photosUp to 5. They really help your landlord and the artisan understand the problem.

Your landlord gets an email and a text straight away. You can follow the request's progress, chat with your landlord (and the artisan once they're assigned), and cancel it yourself until work starts.

Handling a request (landlords)

New requests appear under Repairs, with emergencies at the top and unread messages highlighted. Open one to see the details, photos and chat, then either:

• Send it to an artisan — the usual route (below), or
• Handle it yourself — for repairs you do yourself or with someone not on HouzRent: set a visit date, costs and a note for your tenant, and move it along as work progresses.

Every change is added to the request's timeline, so you and your tenant always see the same story.

Sending it to an artisan

1. Pick an artisanChoose from your saved artisans or add a new one with their name and phone number. You'll see each artisan's rating, jobs completed and any warning signs.
2. They get a textWith a short summary and a link. They verify their NIN before they can accept — until then, they can't see the address or your tenant's details.
3. They accept and book the visitAfter agreeing a day with your tenant. Your tenant is texted the date.
4. Approve their quoteIf they send one, approve or decline it in the request. An approved quote becomes the repair's cost.
5. They mark the work doneWith a note and photos.

If an artisan doesn't reply, resend the text or send the job to someone else — the first artisan is told it's no longer theirs. You can block an artisan so they can't be sent your jobs.

Confirming the fix

When a repair is marked fixed — by the artisan or by the landlord — the tenant is asked to confirm by email and text:

• Yes, it's fixed closes the request.
• Not fixed yet sends it straight back, with the tenant's note and photos. If an artisan did the work, the job goes back to them and counts as a redo on their record.

If the tenant doesn't respond within 7 days, the repair closes as fixed automatically.

Ratings

After a repair done by an artisan is closed, the tenant and the landlord can each rate the artisan once (1–5 stars, with an optional comment) within 30 days. Ratings follow the artisan across every landlord they work for, together with how many jobs they've completed and how many had to be redone. Landlords see a warning next to artisans with a poor record.

Charging the tenant for damage

Most repairs are the landlord's responsibility. If the tenant caused the damage, the landlord can optionally send the tenant a charge for part or all of the cost, with a reason — but only after the tenant has confirmed the repair is fixed.

• The tenant can pay it from their wallet or dispute it with their reason.
• Nothing is taken from a tenant's wallet without their approval.
• The landlord can cancel a charge that's unpaid or disputed, and send a new amount if they've agreed one in the chat.

Who sees what

Repair photos are private — they're never on a public link and only the people above can open them.