Hundreds of thousands of tenants in the private rented sector are living in unsafe properties due to weak regulation, according to a new survey.
Many landlords don’t know or understand their legal obligations, while renters aren’t aware of their rights or don’t feel able to enforce them, according to the poll conducted by ComRes on behalf of Citizens Advice.
It means many tenants live in homes with health affecting hazards such as mould or dangerous problems such as not working or missing smoke or carbon monoxide alarms.
The charity wants a national housing body for private renting to set standards, which could include creating a home MOT, setting a ‘fit and proper person’ test for landlords and standardising rental contracts.
The research also found that landlords aren’t meeting obligations on repair that they are responsible for but 75% of them agree that a single national housing body responsible for setting standards would make their job easier.
Overall 60% of tenants identified disrepair in their home in the last two years that was not caused by them and that their landlord was responsible for fixing while 15% said the disrepair was a major threat to their health and safety while 32% said their house did not have a carbon monoxide alarm despite requiring one. This affects around 900,000 homes.
In its survey of landlords, the research found about a quarter of landlords failed to make sure there’s a smoke alarm on each floor of all of their properties and the same number failed to carry out an annual gas safety check or make sure that smoke and carbon monoxide alarms were working.
At the same time, 31% of landlords said they find it difficult to keep up with rules and regulations while 49% did not know the potential penalty of up to £5,000 for not checking smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are in working order on the first day of the tenancy. The same proportion didn’t know the penalty for not carrying out a gas safety check.
One renter came to Citizens Advice for help because a leaky roof in her building meant rain was dripping into her young child’s bedroom, causing mould. She said her child’s health was being affected by the hazard but that after two years of going around in circles her landlord had still not fixed the problem.
The Government has made reforms in the private rented sector in recent years, such as laws to ensure all rented homes are fit to be lived in, banning most tenant fees, and proposed the abolition of so called no-fault section 21 evictions.
However, renters lack the power they need to ensure standards are consistent, and landlords and tenants lack the knowledge they need for standards to be upheld.
Citizens Advice helped almost 60,000 people with issues related to private renting last year. Some 24% had issues getting repairs completed and more than 2,500 were being harassed by their landlord.
‘Too many private renters live in hazardous homes, often with potentially fatal flaws. Weak and confusing regulation means landlords can struggle to understand their legal obligations, while tenants find it hard to get problems in their homes resolved,’ said Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice.
‘The Government must establish a national housing body to ensure landlords let property that meet legal standards, and gives renters the support they need when they don’t,’ she added.
