People who rent a home in England are to get greater protection thanks to plans which will overhaul health and safety standards for rental accommodation.
Housing Minister Heather Wheeler has announced plans to tighten health and safety standards and clampdown on a small minority of rogue landlords who turn a blind eye to dangerous conditions.
There will be action to ensure carbon monoxide rules are fit for purpose, protecting people from the threat of carbon monoxide poisoning.
She said that while the vast majority of landlords are responsible owners who take great pride in the properties they lease to their tenants, some private renters live in sub-standard homes with problems such as inadequate heating and damp.
Under current rules, councils are required to ensure rental properties in their area meet important safety standards using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System and are able to force criminal landlords to take action where tenants are languishing in unsafe accommodation.
Yet the system hasn’t been updated in over 12 years, and a new review of the system will consider whether it should be updated and if so, to what extent. The review will also look at whether to introduce minimum standards for common health and safety problems in rental accommodation in order to keep renters safe.
Wheeler pointed out that the measures build on existing Government action to drive up standards in the rental sector. ‘These reviews will allow us to revisit the current systems for health and safety ratings and carbon monoxide alarms to ensure that both are fit for purpose and meeting the needs of tenants,’ she explained.
‘By looking again at these rules, we can make sure that they are working as they should to keep people safe and give them peace of mind in their homes,’ she added.
There are currently around eight million carbon monoxide alarms in homes across England, with current rules stating that alarms must be fitted in privately rented homes with solid fuel appliances and when solid fuel stoves and boilers are installed.
The review will judge whether legislation goes far enough in keeping people safe from the risks of carbon monoxide in their homes, and whether there should be a blanket requirement to install alarms for other methods of heating, including gas and oil, and to social housing.
Ministers will also consider new research including technological improvements and the falling costs of carbon monoxide alarms and whether this supports a case to extend requirements.
Ministers have also introduced tough new powers for councils to tackle the small minority of rogue landlords who rent out overcrowded properties, including fines of up to £30,000 for those landlords who do not comply.
The Tenant Fees Bill, currently making its way through Parliament, will also bring an end to unnecessary, costly fees imposed by landlords or property agents, stopping tenants being charged hundreds of pounds for minor fixes to their homes and putting cash back in their pockets.
‘Together, the measures will make sure the housing market works for everyone by making renting fair and more transparent for all,’ Wheeler concluded.
David Cox, chief executive of the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) welcomed the move and said the association has long beleives that the existing Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is too complicated and poorly understood by tenants, landlords, agents and enforcement officers.
‘We need to create a practical system with criteria which are easy to use, and fully support the recommendation in the Rugg Review for a property MOT which will ensure that a home meets a minimum set of requirements and that the landlord understands what is expected of them,’ he said.
