Privately rented homes bust despite sector boom

Published 08th Mar 2011

Even though rental homes are increasingly in demand, the latest figures show that more than 40% do not meet standards


More than 40% of privately rented flats and houses in England are in a "non-decent" condition, according to damning figures released by the government.

Results from the English Housing Survey show the private rented sector is booming as more would-be buyers find themselves unable to obtain mortgages. There were 3.4 million households living in privately rented homes in 2010, up from 2.4 million in 2005, which means that one in six English households now live in privately rented accommodation.

But 1.4 million homes, some 41% of the private rented sector (PRS), are branded "non-decent", according to criteria set by the department of communities and local government.

This means they have failed three or more minimum standards. The standards include: a kitchen that is no more than 20 years old with "reasonable space and layout"; a bathroom no more than 30 years old; good insulation against noise; "in the case of flats, having communal areas of adequate size"; energy-efficient features; and whether the homes are an appropriate size for the number of tenants. In addition, the survey shows that serious damp problems affect 15% of the private rented sector.

Owner-occupied properties and social housing – flats or houses managed by housing associations or councils – fare better in all categories of the survey.

"Privately rented homes have been ignored until now because they have been in a minority and tenants have been younger and considered able to fend for themselves," says Steven Smith, who organises private tenants' groups in Yorkshire. "Now the PRS is growing and the tenants are all ages. There's a need for action on property conditions and tenant rights, to make them equal with the social and owner sectors."

Although short-term tenancy legislation has improved the rights of private tenants against unfair eviction, they still have less redress against landlords than social housing tenants.

Rental agents or individual landlords who manage their own tenants are not legally obliged to join the Property Ombudsman Scheme, so protests by tenants over descriptions of properties or disputes over conditions can be hard to pursue successfully.

The property ombudsman – whose 2011 report is due later this month – wants the 2007 Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act widened to include lettings agents. The ombudsman's latest figures, for the third quarter of 2010, show dramatically more complaints about private lettings agents than in previous periods. Disputes range from tenants having holding deposits retained when they change their minds about renting to landlords' failure to reimburse the costs of tenants calling out emergency plumbers.

"The ratio of enquiries to membership numbers is one for every 9.7 [estate agency] sales offices compared with one for every 3.9 lettings offices. Clearly there is work to do in the lettings sector to improve standards," says Christopher Hamer, the property ombudsman.

The situation is worsening as pressure builds on the PRS. The number of households is rising, but owner-occupation is falling and there is little new-build social housing. The English Housing Survey shows half of private renters are under 35. Some 500,000 are 16 to 24 and 1.2 million are aged 25 to 34, while 12% of private renters are lone-parent households.

Countrywide, the UK's largest lettings agency trading under names such as Hamptons International, Bairstow Eves and John D Wood, says there was a 37% rise in private tenant applications in 2010, with 4.5 tenants vying for every available property.

"We're now beginning to see a shift, as a whole new generation is growing up choosing to long-term rent. Record levels of demand and a severe shortage of stock is an issue which needs addressing," says Countrywide chief executive Grenville Turner.

Preparation for the next English Housing Survey begins next month (April 2011) and has been hit by public spending cuts. In future the number of households included – currently a sample of 17,000 – will be reduced and some subjects will only be looked at occasionally instead of each year. Some councils and housing bodies have complained this will reduce the usefulness of the survey for highlighting problems, especially in the rented sector.

Source: ' Guardian '

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