ALMOST half of tenants are reluctant to report repairs to landlords for fear of retaliation such as eviction or rent hikes, a report reveals.

A study by Citizens Advice found that four in 10 private renters – the equivalent of 1.85 million households – are too afraid to make complaints.

Problems can range from broken windows to leaks and dangerous electronics.

Citizens Advice helped people with more than 16,000 problems around private rented sector homes in poor condition in the past year.

Private landlords have a legal responsibility to fix problems in a reasonable time – usually a month or less, or 24 hours for the most urgent cases.

When tenants wait longer than is deemed reasonable, a court order can be issued to the landlord, or the tenant can be awarded financial compensation. In some cases, both will be served.

However, this new research suggests that tenants are not holding their landlords to account, due to fears that they could lose their homes.

Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said living in a home in poor condition can adversely impact health. He said: “Renters should be able to ask for repairs to their home without fear of retaliation. “Homes in poor condition are the most common private rented sector issue people turn to Citizens Advice for help with.

“Renters aren’t pursuing their rights to repair because they are worried their landlord will put up their rent or evict them. To add to this, formal routes to redress aren’t being used either because they’re too difficult and expensive.”