16/01/2018
New Bill to help ensure the safety of rented homes (E)
Tenants of rented homes in the social and private sector will have the right to take legal action for breach of contract if their landlord fails to ensure their property is fit for human habitation, under a private members bill introduced by the Labour MP for Westminster North, Karen Buck.
The government has supported, and helped draft ‘Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation and Liability for Housing Standards) Bill 2017-19’, which gives tenants a clear route to take direct action against landlords who fail to ensure their properties are safe and of an acceptable standard from the beginning of tenancies and throughout them.
The Bill supplements The Housing Health and Safety Rating system, which was introduced by the Housing Act 2004 to provide local authorities with a tool to assess whether a property contains potentially serious risks to the health and safety of residents. Measures in the Act also empower the authority to require landlords to reduce or remove the risk.
More recent measures include the introduction last April of new powers for local authorities to issue civil penalties up to £30,000 against rogue landlords as an alternative to prosecution for a range of offences – ‘Rogue Landlords now Face Civil Penalties (E)’ (CPA News, 7 April 2017).
A database of rogue landlords and property agents convicted of certain offences will be introduced from April, together with banning orders for the most serious and prolific offenders – ‘New measures to improve standards in the private rented sector (E)’, (CPA News, 3 January 2018).
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