Government confirms support for the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation and Liability for Housing Standards) Bill 2017

[ALEO Admin]

On 14 January 2018, the Housing Secretary, confirmed Government support for the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation and Liability for Housing Standards) Bill 2017-19, with the debate on Second Reading taking place on 19 January 2018.

The Bill seeks to amend relevant sections of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 by extending its obligations to cover almost all landlords and to modernise the fitness for habitation test. The Bill proposed to allow tenants to take their landlords to court if they don’t ensure their property is fit for human habitation at the beginning of the tenancy and throughout. Currently the The Housing, Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) introduced in the Housing Act 2004 provides for local authorities to inspect and identify hazards in residential dwellings and take enforcement action. The Bill would allow tenants to take direct legal action against their landlord.

The term "fitness for human habitation" is defined in the Landlord and
Tenant Act 1985; however a Briefing Paper on the Bill, published on 14 January 2018, states that:

...there is no duty on landlords to ensure that a rented dwelling is let or maintained in a condition that is fit for human habitation. Commentators make the point that there are a number of issues which tenants struggle to address by using the existing remedies. For example, a landlord’s repairing duty under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 “does not cover things like fire safety, or inadequate heating, or poor ventilation causing condensation and mould growth.

The Private Member's Bill was first presented by Labour MP Karen Buck, in 2015, but originally failed to make progress. The Bill was reintroduced in 2017 and has now been sent to the Public Bill Committee for line-by-line scrutiny, with the date of the first sitting of the Committee to be announced.

The Bill extends to England and Wales but will only apply to tenancies in England. The Welsh Government has already included similar provisions in relation to housing fitness in the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016.

For more information, see:
http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ ... fullreport
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/gove ... of-tenants
https://services.parliament.uk/bills/20 ... dards.html
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/ ... 19a.1169.2