This content applies to England only.

Living in poor quality, badly maintained accommodation puts well-being at risk.

Research has shown that poor housing conditions have a particularly negative impact on children. [1] Those living in overcrowded or run down accommodation have an increased risk of asthma, problem behaviour, and also tend to do less well at school.

Poor conditions in the private rented sector

While some tenants in the private rented sector live in high quality property, this is not the experience of many.

Problems with disrepair are also a significant issue in the private rented sector. This is because the sector is largely made up of older housing stock in many areas. The bottom 10 per cent of private rented sector homes have much higher levels of disrepair than the bottom 10 per cent of stock in either the owner-occupier or social rented sectors. [2] Where tenants experience problems with disrepair or poor housing conditions, they may find it difficult to improve the situation.

Current legislation on eviction means that, after the initial six months of a tenancy, landlords do not need to provide a reason why they want to evict their tenant. Some unscrupulous landlords may regard a complaint about the state of accommodation as a reason to seek eviction. Shelter believes that this practice is completely unacceptable.

Shelter's view

In 2004, after much campaigning from Shelter and others, a new Housing Act brought in limited regulation of conditions in the private rented sector. The Act saw the introduction of the housing health and safety rating system as well as licensing for some houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) and tenancy deposit protection schemes.

While Shelter welcomed these long overdue efforts to improve conditions in the sector, we believe that much more needs to be done. We want to see safe and appropriate housing conditions for all in the private rented sector.

We call on the Government to:

• Ensure that councils prosecute rogue landlords who wilfully refuse to maintain their properties in a safe condition, and encourage them to carry out regular housing conditions' surveys to identify properties in disrepair.
  
• Bring forward new measures to improve the condition of the worst properties in the private rented sector, including through the Energy Security and Green Economy Bill
  
• Explore ways of providing tenants with legal protection against retaliatory eviction.
  

[1] Harker, L., Chance of a lifetime, Shelter, 2006.

[2] English House Condition Survey 2003: Annual Report ODPM 2006.