Landlord repairs in Connecticut

The landlord must follow building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety, make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the home fit and habitable, and keep common areas clean and safe (C.G.S. § 47a-7(a)). A lease cannot allow the landlord to collect rent for any period when the landlord is not meeting these duties (§ 47a-4a). (Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 47a-7(a), 47a-4a)

Connecticut law names these:

• working electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating and other facilities, appliances and elevators the landlord supplies
• garbage and ash receptacles and removal
• running water
• reasonable amounts of hot water
• reasonable heat

To end the lease, the tenant must deliver a written notice to the landlord describing the problem (§ 47a-12(a)). For loss of heat, water, hot water, electricity, gas or other essential services, reasonable written or oral notice is enough (§ 47a-13(c)). To bring a court repair (rent-into-court) case, the tenant must first have complained to the town's housing-code or health-code enforcement agency at least 21 days before filing (§ 47a-14h(b)). (Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 47a-12(a), 47a-13(c), 47a-14h(b))

The notice must be in writing. Write a Connecticut repair request letter.

For a material lease violation or a § 47a-7 violation materially affecting health and safety, the lease ends if the landlord does not fix the problem within 15 days after receiving the tenant's written notice (§ 47a-12(a); leases longer than one month only). For essential services, the tenant may arrange substitute housing if service is not restored within 48 hours (immediately if the same failure recurs within six months) (§ 47a-13(a)(2)). A court repair case may be filed if the code-enforcement complaint was made at least 21 days earlier (§ 47a-14h(b)).

Urgent problems (48 hours): Landlord fails to supply required heat, running water, hot water, electricity, gas or other essential service (not caused by conditions beyond the landlord's control): if not restored within 48 hours, the tenant may move to substitute housing and stop paying rent for that period (§ 47a-13(a)(2)).

Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 47a-12(a), 47a-13(a), 47a-14h(b)

Allowed with limits. Only for essential services: if the landlord fails to supply required heat, running water, hot water, electricity, gas or another essential service, the tenant may, after notice, buy reasonable amounts of that service during the outage and deduct the actual and reasonable cost from rent (§ 47a-13(a)(1)). There is no general repair-and-deduct; CT Law Help advises tenants not to repair and deduct without the landlord's written permission.

Limit:

actual and reasonable cost of the service

Law:

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-13(a)(1); CT Law Help, Tenants' Rights: Repairs (Mar. 2026)

Allowed with limits. The statute bars a landlord from collecting rent for periods when it is not complying with § 47a-7 (§ 47a-4a), and a tenant may raise the landlord's failure to repair as a defense in an eviction. But CT Law Help says tenants must keep paying rent unless a judge says they can stop, and use the court's rent-into-court procedure instead. Rent is excused while a tenant uses substitute housing during an essential-service outage (§ 47a-13(b)).

Law:

Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 47a-4a, 47a-13(b); CT Law Help, Tenants' Rights: Repairs (Mar. 2026)

A tenant whose landlord has not fixed § 47a-7 violations at least 21 days after a complaint to the local code-enforcement or health agency may file a sworn complaint in Superior Court housing session ($25 entry fee, waivable; forms JD-HM-19 and JD-HM-35). The hearing is set within 14 days, the inspector's report goes to the court, and the tenant pays each month's rent to the court clerk (within 9 days of the due date), which counts as paying the landlord and blocks a nonpayment eviction. The court can order repairs, appoint a receiver, use the escrowed rent for repairs, and order a retroactive rent abatement (§ 47a-14h). The case cannot be started after a valid notice to quit for nonpayment has been served. (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-14h)

Allowed. For a material lease violation or a § 47a-7 violation materially affecting health and safety, the tenant may deliver written notice; if the landlord does not fix it within 15 days after receipt, the lease ends on that date (§ 47a-12(a)). If substantially the same problem recurs within six months, the tenant may end the lease on at least 14 days' written notice, with a move-out date within 30 days of the breach. Applies only to leases longer than one month, and not for conditions the tenant's household or guests caused. If the landlord willfully fails to supply an essential service, the tenant may terminate and recover the greater of two months' rent or double actual damages (§ 47a-13(a)(3)).

Law:

Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 47a-12, 47a-13(a)(3)

If essential services are cut off for more than 48 hours, the tenant may get substitute housing; rent abates for that period and the tenant may recover the housing cost up to the rent abated, plus attorney's fees (§ 47a-13(a)(2), (b)). In a § 47a-14h case the court may order repairs, appoint a receiver, stay other proceedings and award damages including retroactive rent abatement. Retaliation is an affirmative defense to eviction (§ 47a-33).

For six months after the tenant in good faith asks the landlord for repairs, contacts state or local officials or a fair rent commission about a code violation, a municipal agency files a notice or order about a violation, the tenant files a § 47a-14h case, or the tenant joins a tenants' union, the landlord may not bring an eviction, demand a rent increase, or decrease services (§ 47a-20). Exceptions include nonpayment of rent, illegal use, the landlord's good-faith move-in, a condition the tenant willfully caused, or a termination notice given before the complaint (§ 47a-20a). (Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 47a-20, 47a-20a)

Tenants complain to the code enforcement office or health department of their city or town (call 2-1-1 for the number) and ask for an inspection and a copy of the report; this complaint is a prerequisite to a § 47a-14h court case.

• A municipal ordinance, building code or fire code that imposes a greater duty on the landlord takes precedence (§ 47a-7(b)).
• In a single-family home, the landlord and tenant may agree in writing that the tenant handles garbage, heat and hot water and specified repairs, if made in good faith (§ 47a-7(c)).
• CT Law Help says landlords must fix pests including bedbugs and missing or broken smoke detectors; bed bug duties are in § 47a-7a.
• Mobile manufactured home park residents are covered by §§ 47a-13 and 47a-14h; complaints for parks may go to the Commissioner of Consumer Protection.

• Connecticut repair request letter (free, runs in your browser)
• Breaking a lease in Connecticut: notice periods and early-termination rights
• Connecticut eviction notice rules: what a notice for unpaid rent requires

• Conn. Gen. Stat. ch. 830 (Rights and Responsibilities of Landlord and Tenant), 2026 Supplement Retrieved October 14, 2026.
• Conn. Gen. Stat. ch. 832 (Summary Process), § 47a-33 Retrieved October 14, 2026.
• CT Law Help (Statewide Legal Services), Tenants' Rights: Repairs (March 2026) Retrieved October 14, 2026.
• Connecticut Judicial Branch form JD-HM-35, Complaint – Housing Code Enforcement Retrieved October 14, 2026.

Laws change. This page was checked against the sources above on October 14, 2026. It is legal information, not legal advice; before withholding rent or ending a lease, contact your state's legal aid. See our methodology.