New rental housing standards must be clear and enforceable
A new consultation on a Decent Homes Standard for the private and social rented sectors is being launched tomorrow, the Government has announced.
The plans will ‘modernise the standard, with proposals that hold tenant safety at their core but remain proportionate and affordable for providers to deliver’, according to a statement released this evening – with no further details made available at present.
The consultation document will be published tomorrow as part of the Government’s long-term plan to deliver 300,000 social and affordable homes through the new £39billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme, announced in last month’s Spending Review.
NRLA Chief Executive Ben Beadle said he is looking forward to hearing more about the Government plans, but said a commitment to effective and properly resourced enforcement is vital if they are to succeed.
He said: “Decent and safe housing should be the bedrock of the rental market. Any landlord failing to provide this should have no place in the private rented sector.
“79 per cent of private rented homes already meet the existing Decent Homes Standard, despite it not being legally binding on the sector. We want to ensure every rented home is of a decent quality.
“We welcome publication of the Government’s proposals and will engage positively as they consult on them. Landlords, letting agents, tenants and councils need a clear, coherent and workable set of standards to meet.
“However, setting this standard is only part of the solution. Without effective and properly resourced enforcement by councils, the minority of rogue and criminal landlords will continue to undermine tenants’ confidence and damage the reputation of the wider sector. It is time to find and root out poor practice for good.”
The consultation document ‘Delivering a Decade of Renewal for Social and Affordable Housing’ will be published in full tomorrow.
The Renters' Rights Bill will give the Government powers to introduce a Decent Homes Standard for the private rented sector for the first time, with the consultation expected to outline what this will look like.
