Last reviewed 30 October 2026. General guidance, not legal advice.
First steps
- Turn the water off at the stopcock. It is often under the kitchen sink, or where the water pipe comes into the house. Turn it clockwise. If it won't move, look for the outside stop tap, often under a small cover near your boundary.
- Keep away from wet electrics. If water is near sockets, lights or the fuse board, switch the electricity off at the fuse board only if you can reach it without touching water. If you can't, keep away and call an electrician.
- Turn off the heating and hot water. Switch off the boiler or immersion heater so it doesn't run without water.
- Drain the pipes. Open the cold taps, and flush the toilets, to empty the cold water. Then open the hot taps.
- Catch the water and save your things. Bowls and towels under the leak, and move furniture, rugs and electrical items away. A bulging ceiling can come down: keep people out from under it.
- Take photos. Of the leak and the damage, before and during the clean-up, for your insurer.
- Call a plumber, or the water company. A leak inside your home is a plumber's job. A leak in the street, the pavement or a neighbour's side of the boundary is usually your water company's.
Who is responsible for which pipe
In most homes, the water company looks after the pipes in the street up to your boundary, and the supply pipe from the boundary into your home is yours. Your water company can tell you which part is whose. If you rent, tell your landlord straight away.
Stopping it happening again
- Find your stopcock now, and make sure it turns.
- Lag pipes in lofts, garages and outside walls before winter.
- In a freeze, keep the heating on low, even when you are away.
- Fix dripping taps and overflows: they can freeze too.
Frozen pipe, not burst yet
Turn the water off, then thaw the pipe slowly with a hot water bottle or a hairdryer on low, starting from the tap end. Never use a naked flame.