Reform of the private rented sector is Go! Government efforts to improve conditions for private renters have taken years to come to fruition, often due to the vested interests of landlord members of parliament. Now, however, a raft of legislation is coming through that will dramatically change the way the PRS is regulated, even if some of it will take years to fully implement. Neil Merrick looks at the proposed reforms and gauges the appetite and preparedness of local authorities.

For much of the past year, Mansfield Council has been taking a proactive approach to the private rented sector (PRS) in terms of both the opportunities it provides and the potential pitfalls it poses.

In February, the council launched a private rented access scheme that covers the deposit and first month’s rent so that people facing homelessness can afford to move into PRS accommodation.

During the first six months, a total of 58 households (including 41 children) that might otherwise be living in temporary accommodation were housed with 24 landlords.

Last month, the council also introduced a selective licensing scheme that requires landlords to pay £800 for a five-year licence. In addition, it’s running an advice and support service for private renters alongside Citizens Advice.

With at least 2,000 landlords known to be letting about 9,000 properties across the district, Anne Callaghan, the council’s portfolio holder for housing, makes no apology for taking a more hands-on approach to enforcing standards.

Decent homes

To qualify for the access scheme, properties must meet the current Decent Homes Standard (DHS), which by law only applies to social landlords. Over the next 10 years, however, things will get far tougher for all private landlords in Mansfield and elsewhere as a new DHS comes into force for both sectors.

As well as improving the quality of their own stock, local authorities will be expected to enforce standards in the PRS and identify properties that fall short of the DHS. To date, says Cllr Callaghan, there has not been any ‘kick back’ from landlords over the DHS, while it’s too early to gauge the success of the licensing scheme.

By next year, the council expects to appoint two new enforcement officers to manage the increased workload, their salaries paid for through the sale of licences. “I believe private landlords have a responsibility to make sure homes are safe from serious hazards,” she says. “If it improves people’s lives and their health and well-being, let’s have the headache.”

“To deliver the best results for the PRS, councils must have the resources to regulate proactively, going above and beyond relying on residents to make a complaint”
The Local Government Association

At this stage, it’s impossible to say how big a headache enforcing the DHS among private landlords will prove to be. About one in five households in England rent in the PRS (equivalent to about 4.4 million households).

But while 10% of social rented housing fails the current DHS, the figure in the PRS is more than double at 21%.

Among those with concerns is the Local Government Association, which would like councils to be able to carry out targeted inspections of private landlords in the same way the Regulator of Social Housing does in the social rented sector.

“To deliver the best results for the PRS, councils must have the resources to regulate proactively, going above and beyond relying on residents to make a complaint,” the LGA said in its response to a recent consultation over the updated DHS.

At present, regulation of private landlords can be a hit and miss affair, with fewer than 50 councils in England running licensing schemes. Cuts in the early 2010s left councils short of environmental health officers or other staff to enforce standards.

According to Hollie Wright, a researcher at the New Economics Foundation (NEF), tenants want reassurance that councils can enforce standards effectively. “People tend to go to the local newspaper rather than the council because they don’t think the council will do anything,” she says.

Postcode lottery

A study by the NEF earlier this year shows that renters face a postcode lottery when it comes to reporting poor-quality accommodation. Nottingham City Council boasts the best enforcement capacity, with 133.5 officers in charge of 35,695 private lets (267 properties per officer).

The London borough of Waltham Forest, which recently relaunched its licensing scheme, came second with 60 officers for 28,180 PRS homes (470 properties per officer). Meanwhile, according to the NEF data, Huntingdonshire employs just one part-time member of staff to check on the 12,416 PRS properties in its area.

Henry Dawson, part of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health’s housing advisory panel, says most problems reported by private renters come under the auspices of environmental health officers, with other issues the responsibility of trading standards departments.

During the past 10 years, the government has tightened up regulation of larger houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) as well as backing a private members’ bill that became the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act. This gives tenants more power to complain about conditions in social and private rented housing.

Renters’ Rights Bill

With the Renters’ Rights Bill due for Royal Assent at the time of going to press, council enforcement staff are faced with a range of complex and overlapping legislation, says Dawson, a senior lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University.

During the 10 years to 2020, funding for environmental health fell by 41%. Many councils rely on agency staff to carry out statutory duties as there aren’t enough people coming into the profession to work in local government. “We struggle to recruit and retain staff,” he says.

Dawson favours licensing schemes as an effective way to advise private landlords, keep a check on standards and to ‘professionalise’ the PRS. “It gets somebody through the door,” he says.

Enforcement staff are currently hampered by the fact they must give landlords 24 hours’ notice of an inspection. But a government amendment passed in July by the House of Lords means this will no longer be the case under the new act.

National database

In future, enforcement will depend not just on inspections but a national database, requiring landlords to upload certificates and other key information. This should make it quicker and easier for councils to check whether landlords are complying with the law and perhaps reduce the need for inspections.

It remains to be seen whether the database complements or replaces local licensing, says Samantha Watkin, senior policy officer at the National Residential Landlords Association. At present, local authorities can issue penalties of up to £30,000 if private landlords fail to meet health and safety standards.

Under the bill, this will be raised to £40,000. However, while some councils already penalise errant landlords on a regular basis, NRLA research suggests other local authorities levy few if any fines.

The Renters’ Rights Bill and looming DHS represent a seismic change for the PRS that will take time to bed-in, says Watkin. Clear guidance is essential from both councils and the government. “Landlords need to be able to self-regulate with confidence,” she says. “We’ve got to make the information accessible for landlords to digest.”

Among those that cannot wait for the new DHS to come into effect is Generation Rent, representing tenants in the PRS. Nye Jones, its head of campaigns, says “time and time” again private landlords fail to respond to complaints about hazards and other issues. “We need proper enforcement of standards,” he adds.

Nye welcomes any steps local authorities take to improve enforcement, along with the database, but rejects a government suggestion that landlords should have 10 to 12 years to comply with the new DHS. “A phased implementation makes sense, but it should take effect much sooner than a decade,” he adds.

“I believe private landlords have a responsibility to make sure homes are safe from serious hazards”
Anne Callaghan, Portfolio Holder for Housing, Mansfield District Council

At the start of September, Generation Rent unveiled figures showing councils are spending millions of pounds in one-off incentive payments to private landlords so they accept households facing homelessness and that are in receipt of benefits.

In 2024/25, councils that responded to freedom of information requests paid private landlords a total of more than £31m, the survey shows. “It’s a senseless waste of public money,” says Jones.

Many of the councils, including most London boroughs, operate selective licensing schemes to monitor standards and raise money for enforcement. In September, Thurrock announced its scheme will get underway in January. Mark Hurrell, the council’s cabinet member for social housing, says licensing will ensure that all landlords “are held to the same standard of responsibility”.

Looking ahead, the interests of local authorities and private landlords appear to be inextricably intertwined, meaning councils have every interest in ensuring the PRS meets higher standards.

But, with local government reorganisation pending and smaller district councils set to be absorbed into new unitary councils, the task of policing the PRS over the next decade is likely to be extremely challenging.

What will private landlords have to do?

Awaab’s Law

Along with social landlords, private landlords will be required to remove damp and mould and other major health hazards within specified timeframes. While Awaab’s Law comes into force in social housing on 27 October, no date has been given for when it will apply to the PRS.

Decent Homes Standard

The updated Decent Homes Standard will cover all homes let as assured tenancies, plus private supported housing occupied under tenancies and licences. In line with social housing, private landlords are likely to have until 2035, and possibly 2037, to comply with the standard in full.

Energy efficiency

Ahead of the new DHS coming into effect, private and social landlords are likely to be required to comply with a new system of minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES). It’s expected homes will need to meet a standard equivalent to energy performance certificate (EPC) C, in line with the new MEES, by 2030.

Database

All landlords offering assured and regulated tenancies will be required to register on a new national database for each of their properties. Penalties will be incurred if they market or let a property before registering or fail to upload key information, such as compliance certificates and tenancy agreements. The database should provide local authorities with better data about private rented sector properties in their area.

What won’t private landlords need to do?

According to the MHCLG’s recent consultation on a new DHS, private landlords won’t need to take responsibility for boundary walls, pathways and external lighting in the same way as social landlords.

A look at the Welsh PRS leasing scheme

For the past three years, private landlords and other property owners in Wales have been leasing empty or unused properties to their local council so the homes can be let to people on housing waiting lists.

By this summer, 430 properties had been leased to councils across Wales for between five and 20 years. Not only does the scheme help move people out of temporary accommodation, but landlords or owners receive grants for renovation and energy efficiency improvements.

The Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) was updated two years ago and requires social landlords to meet higher standards than the DHS in areas such as thermal comfort and water use. But there’s no suggestion that it will be extended to the PRS.

Private landlords are, however, required to register and obtain a licence from Rent Smart Wales, a national agency.

Eleanor Bateman, public affairs manager at the National Residential Landlords Association, says the leasing scheme is a sensible way of local authorities working in partnership with private landlords.

But while the scheme provides landlords with guaranteed income, properties are tied up for at least five years, with rental income dependent on local housing allowance (LHA) rates. “It’s not going to generate a lot of money,” she adds.