The Renters’ Rights Act will apply the Decent Homes Standard and Awaab’s Law which will introduce stricter timelines for landlords to respond to category one serious hazards in homes.
However, the Decent Homes Standard will not be applied until 2035 and there is no clear indication of the timeline for Awaab’s Law.
Both the Housing Committee and Generation Rent believe this is not good enough and that the government needs to be stricter with landlords.
Nye Jones, head of campaigns at Generation Rent, said: “Homes are the foundation of our lives.
“But far too many renters are living in mouldy, damp homes that can seriously harm our health, while we have little power to improve the conditions in which we live.
“The Renters’ Rights Act is a historic and a vital step in addressing the power imbalance between tenants and landlords.
“However, it is unacceptable that private renters will have to wait a decade for their homes to be brought up to a decent standard.”
More than one in five private rented homes in England do not meet the basic government standard that covers repairs, heating, kitchen and bathroom facilities and hazards.
And one in 10 private rented homes in England have a category one serious hazard, such as extensive damp, extensive mould growth or excess cold or heat.
The Housing Committee wants the government to introduce incentives for landlords and, strengthen the deterrents against breaches to speed up compliance with the new Decent Homes Standard ahead of the 2035 deadline.
Florence Eshalomi, chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, welcomed the government’s reform to renters’ rights, calling it an “important contribution” to improving housing conditions for tenants.
But also stated that the government needs to go further to help tenants and make sure that landlords are adhering to the new act.
She said: “More needs to be done to ensure the new tenants’ rights are enforceable and that landlords play by the rules.”
A MHCLG spokesperson said: “The current rules are clear that landlords already need to fix serious problems where they exist and councils can issue large fines to landlords in the worst cases.
They also added that a new Private Landlord Ombudsman, which will resolve tenants’ complaints quickly and fairly will come into force in 2028.
Featured image credit: Photo by Jakub Żerdzicki on Unsplash
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