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Minister announces plans to tighten health and safety
standards for rental accommodation – ensuring all tenants
have a safe place to call home.
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Move to clampdown on small minority of rogue landlords who
turn a blind-eye to dangerous conditions – including the
possibility of minimum health and safety standards.
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Action to ensure carbon monoxide rules are fit for purpose –
protecting people from the threat of carbon monoxide
poisoning.
Renters are to receive greater protection thanks to plans
announced by Housing Minister MP which will overhaul
health and safety standards for rental accommodation – helping to
keep safe the minority of private tenants who currently live in
unsatisfactory conditions.
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.
Today’s measures build on government action to drive up standards
in the rental sector – making sure tenants are living in safe and
secure properties; cracking down on the small minority of
landlords that are renting out unsafe and substandard
accommodation; and ensuring the housing market works for
everyone.
Housing Minister MP said:
Everyone has a right to feel safe and secure in their own home.
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.
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.
Ministers have also outlined further detail of the review into carbon
monoxide alarm requirements in the home, to help ensure
people remain safe from this silent killer.
There are currently around 8 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.
The news demonstrates ongoing government work to support people
to feel safe and secure in their home.
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.
The Housing health and safety
rating system is used by local authorities to assess
health and safety in residential properties – this includes both
private rental properties and council/housing association
properties.
