Leaking mixer tap - DIY or don't risk it?

[Jayde]

I have bathroom taps like the one shown in the attached picture and one of the bolts(?) is leaking, dripping pretty heavily and has been for a while now. Causing rust and water build up around the taps and damaging the tiles behind the bath (not much sealant as the whole bathroom was poorly installed and has been maintained even more poorly).

Is this a simple case of needing to tighten it, and if so which way does it need turning? Towards the centre/other tap or away?
I don't want to risk making it worse or breaking it but need it to stop so I can attempt some sort of damage control.

Please, no well meaning suggestions of replacing it unless that's 100% unavoidable. Landlord certainly won't be interested and I'm not willing to pay for the parts or labour that'd involve.

Thanks in advance!

 

[blup]

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[oldbuffer]

1. Worth trying to tighten it (direction as blup states above). These usually have a rubber washer to provide the water seal between two mating flat faces, so you are unlikely to damage it.
2. I trust you notified the landlord in writing as soon as it started dripping. If not, he / she could reasonably hold you responsible for subsequent damage.

 

[Jayde]

@oldbuffer thanks for the advice! I'll try to get hold of something to properly tighten it, no luck by hand.

The property unfortunately has 101 different things wrong with it, we make the landlord aware every time but more to cover ourselves than expecting anything to actually get done. I'm mindful of them panicking about the state of the place when we move out and trying to pin issues on us so plenty of pictures, screenshotted messages etc.
Landlord is a family member and charging low rent (rightly so with all of these issues) but the more we push on repairs the more likely it is we get prematurely booted before we've saved a deposit. What can you do!