In March 2024, People’s Health Trust launched an England-wide campaign calling for stronger housing enforcement to tackle housing conditions that threaten the health of private tenants.
With one in five tenants in England living in homes that don’t meet housing safety standards and we believe the Government needs to properly resource the enforcement of housing standards in the rented sector.
We are calling on government to give stronger backing to local councils in their efforts to enforce decent housing conditions in the private rented sector to improve their health.
We believe that there should be a more sustainable approach to housing enforcement by local authorities in England and that local authorities need to be able to draw upon much stronger funding in order to enable them to instigate proactive inspections of landlords properties in their areas. Funding could come from either central government or from a licensing scheme whereby landlords pay financial contributions to the local authority in order for them to operate.
We have heard from our partners how failures to tackle serious hazards such as damp and mould are directly contributing to respiratory problems and the stress of having to fight for a reasonable place to live is worsening the physical and mental health of households in every corner of Britain.
It got to point where there was mould in the house - I have children. The council inspected the home. There was mould, the walls had mould. When it was cold outside the house felt so cold. There were rodents, there was a heating problem. He wasnt going to repair anything until we paid increased rent
Augustina
A tenant living in Manchester
Take action
We asked partners and supporters to add their voice to the campaign by writing to their member of parliament asking for stronger enforcement of existing and any new standards for privately rented homes.
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