State of disrepair: are our Right to Repair laws broken?

Remember when people made do and mended, wedding presents outlived their owners and everyone knew someone who could fix almost anything?

Even allowing for nostalgia, it’s fair to say that longevity and repairability are prized less than they once were. ‘Right to Repair Regulations’, which came into force in Great Britain in 2021, aimed to change that.

Designed to extend the life of certain appliances, delay the need for expensive replacements and reduce e-waste, the regulation promised a return to an era when machines were built to last. A fairytale ending after years of waste and frustration. So why didn’t they work?

Buy better with our guides to reliable large appliance brands and reliable small appliance brands.

The laws are too weak

Since Brexit, a new 2024 EU Directive means our laws now lag behind our neighbours’.

• The British legislation only covers access to essential spare parts for certain household appliances, including washing machines, fridges, dishwashers and televisions. The EU’s expanded coverage includes other products, such as smartphones, tumble dryers and tablets.
• In the EU, manufacturers must make their repair service information – including prices of typical repairs – easy to find, whether that’s a website or in an instruction manual. They must repair products within a reasonable time and for a fair price, and are prohibited from using underhanded contractual clauses, hardware or software techniques to impede repairs.
• In the EU, consumers get an extra year on their guarantee if they repair their product instead of replacing it.

The right to repair: Britain vs EU

While there’s room for improvement, our comparison table shows that the EU’s laws do seem, on paper at least, more ambitious and fairer than ours.

Yet even in the EU, repairing is a minority pursuit, suggesting the real blame lies not just with the rules, but with the companies who make products and the economics of repairs just not adding up.

Repairs are too expensive

Despite the EU’s law going further, the high price of getting a broken appliance repaired means that most people just aren’t bothering.

An impact assessment study on the EU Directive found that a disappointingly high 64% of owners still choose to replace their broken goods rather than repair them.

Things are no better on our side of the Channel. In 2023, research by Imperial College London looked into the factors that influence our repair decisions. The most frequently cited barrier was that repairs are seen as too time-consuming. After that came cost; the original product was cheap and not worth repairing, or the repair itself was too expensive. 

Our own research confirms that sometimes the cost of repairs is so high, it’s just not worth doing. In 2024, Which? surveyed 1,416 homeowners about the last time they had a large appliance break down. Half didn’t even attempt a repair while almost half of those who did try to repair their appliance yet failed, listed the cost of repair relative to the replacement cost as a barrier.

Spare parts are too expensive

As well as the price of repairs, spare parts are often extremely expensive when compared to the cost of replacing an appliance.

For example, when we checked, a new pump motor for the Samsung DW60M6050FS dishwasher (£449) costs £131 from the official Samsung spares website, or £130 from third-party retailer, eSpares. This doesn’t factor in call-out charges and labour costs. Samsung says its recommended retail price for an engineer call-out for laundry appliances, refrigerators and dishwashers is £149, which doesn’t include the cost of the repair.

Olivia Ballantyne of Which? Trusted Trader Bews Electrical advised us that, while the price of this kind of repair varies by model and customer location, the average cost is around £300, including VAT. When you consider that our cheapest full-sized Best Buy freestanding dishwasher costs just £289, it’s easy to see why many people choose to replace.

It’s a similar story for washing machines. Though repairing a motor is covered under the ‘right to repair’ law, it’s generally considered uneconomical. Joanna Yorke at Which? Trusted Trader, Domestic Repairs Ltd told us: ‘With call-out and labour considered, most customers prefer to cut their losses and replace the appliance entirely due to the marginal cost difference between repairing and replacing.’ She said the average cost to replace a washing machine motor, inclusive of labour and VAT, is £353. We’ve reviewed Best Buy freestanding washing machines starting from £399.

Which? members have experienced similar. In June 2025, we surveyed 126 Which? Connect panel members who’d attempted to repair their appliances since the legislation came into force in 2021. One respondent said: ‘The dishwasher, a four-year-old Beko, stopped emptying water. The spares were available, but the parts required were expensive, and the repairer advised it was not economical to repair, so we bought a new machine.’ Another respondent told us they were quoted over £300 for a drain hose for their Miele appliance.

Find a Which? recommended trader near you with Which? Trusted Traders.

Spare parts are hard to find

As well as the expense, a shortage of spare parts means owners are forced to replace their appliances.

In our 2024 survey of homeowners, a lack of spare parts scuppered a repair for 10% of those who attempted one and 6% of those who didn’t even try.

It was similar in our survey of Which? Connect panel members. For those who attempted a repair, washer-dryers proved the most challenging, with 58% of those who’d tried to repair one reporting that finding spare parts was difficult. TV parts were the simplest: 56% said they were easy to obtain.

Under British legislation, parts for straightforward repairs that require minimal skill are meant to be available to everyone. These include spare dishwasher racks, washing machine door seals and fridge door handles. Fixes like these are worth doing yourself if you’re able to, as they’ll save paying for a professional. However, unlike the EU regulations, which state that spare parts must be available for a reasonable price, there are no guidelines for how much manufacturers can charge for parts. So even straightforward fixes can become extortionate.

Can you fix it yourself? See our guides to common fridge freezer faults, dishwasher faults and washing machine faults.

Campaign for change

So where does this leave you? Replacing an appliance that could be repaired might work out cheaper for us as individuals. But when you consider everyone who attempts to make a repair and fails, the individual failures add up to billions of pounds of replacement products that could have been avoided. Which leads us to the environmental cost. UK households and businesses discard an estimated 2m tonnes of e-waste each year. That’s the equivalent of over 161,000 London Routemaster buses, a staggering amount.

Although our ‘right to repair’ legislation is a step towards a circular economy, its limited scope means it’s far from a complete solution. A 2024 paper on sustainability by the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances calls on the government to incentivise repairs by lowering the VAT on repair costs, offering repair grants, harmonising UK regulations and standards with those in the EU and revising apprenticeship schemes to encourage a new generation of workers to train as professional repairers.

It’s also important that, as consumers, we take our own actions, such as buying from reliable brands and registering our warranties. Most manufacturers offer one or two year warranties as standard, but some offer longer. A longer manufacturer warranty implies a well-built machine or fewer parts with the potential to go wrong. Also, that the manufacturer expects the appliance to outlast the warranty period before issues occur. It will also help if you keep on top of regular maintenance tasks. Cleaning seals on refrigerators and ovens, and filters on laundry appliances and vacuums help appliances last longer.

Take action: Faulty product? How to get a refund, repair or replacement

What to do if an appliance breaks down

Not sure where to start with a broken appliance? Here's what to do.

1. Check whether it’s still covered by a guarantee or warranty. Attempting a repair can void a guarantee that’s still valid. If an appliance is damaged accidentally, it’s worth checking the terms and conditions of your home and contents insurance policies to see if a repair is covered. Proof of purchase can be crucial here.

2. Depending on the fault and your skill level, decide whether to DIY. Try looking up the cost of the part you need to see if it makes sense to repair. Some repairs are cheap and easy to do yourself, such as replacing a cutlery rack, detergent dispenser or remote control. Check online for repair guides or video tutorials.

3. If doing it yourself isn’t an option, get repair quotes. Going to the manufacturer is likely to be more expensive than a repair booked through a trader, but they should have the advantage of having access to all the parts and manuals needed. To find a reliable repairer, use Which? Trusted Trader.

4. If you do buy a new appliance, check how reliable the brand is and the kind of guarantee offered. Some manufacturers offer extended guarantees if you register your appliance on purchase. For example, Hotpoint offers a 10-year parts guarantee; some Bosch and LG models qualify for a five-year parts and labour warranty.

5. Research how best to dispose of your old appliance. Many retailers will, for a fee, collect it for recycling when they deliver a replacement. Most local councils offer collection and disposal services for bulky waste. If you have a big enough vehicle, most council reuse and recycling centres will take an old appliance.

Need to know: When can I use a manufacturer's warranty or guarantee?