‘A proactive approach to the private rented sector’

The current priority for health services is based on prevention. It’s obvious that maintaining good health is so much better than treating poor health, as well as prevention saving billions for the NHS. 

It’s time for a similar approach to one of the key determinants of health – our homes. And the area with the highest percentage of poor conditions to be found – the private rented sector (PRS).

Current enforcement of PRS conditions is reactive, relying mainly on tenants having to endure poor conditions, which frequently make them ill, before complaining to their local council which many are reluctant to do, even if they know this is an option available to them, which most do not. It is also very resource intensive, and grossly under-resourced, with an average of only 2.2 Council enforcement officers for every 10,000 private rented homes.

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We will soon have the perfect opportunity to phase in a proactive system to achieve safe and decent homes for private renters from the start of their tenancy, using the PRS Database, soon to be set up under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. All private landlords will be required to register, with details of their properties.

Landlords are currently required to evidence some health and safety elements, including gas and electrical checks, energy performance etc. which could easily be uploaded onto the new database. However, there are no requirements to check for damp and mould, and the other 20 hazards identified under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) used by local authorities when they inspect sub-standard homes.  

This could be remedied by introducing a legal requirement for landlords to arrange for their properties to be inspected by a professional trained in the HHSRS. Any hazards found would have to be remedied before a ‘Decent Home Certificate’ could be uploaded to the database as a pre-condition for letting.  

This proposal is based on the long-established MOT for road vehicles.

To reverse the analogy, the current PRS system applied to vehicles would mean that anyone could legally drive a car in any condition without having any driving lessons, but the police would be empowered to stop any car seen driving on the wrong side of the road, and unable to stop at a red light due to defective brakes. They could then tell the driver that they had to get the brakes fixed and start to drive on the left-hand side – at some stage in the next three months or so. 

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It’s worth noting that there are over 41.4 million vehicles registered with the DVLA compared with the 4.6 million private rented homes that will need to be registered on the Database. Compliance monitoring is also easier because most homes do not move. 

This change would represent an achievable enforcement role for local councils within existing resources and could be fully funded by the database registration fees that will be charged to landlords.

Homes that are fit and decent make it easier to maintain family relationships, for children to do better at school and adults more likely to be able to work. People are generally healthier and the current estimated £1bn a year which unfit homes cost the NHS would be significantly reduced.

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