Thousands of private tenants across England are living in properties posing severe risks to their health, the Citizens Advice Bureau warns in a new report.
There are 740,000 English households currently paying £157 average weekly rents for properties that have category 1 hazards (the most serious of problems), such as severe damp, rat infestations and risk of explosions.
These unsafe properties are home to 510,000 children and 180,000 disabled people, the latest available figures show.
Compared to social housing (6 per cent), the proportion of privately rented properties that are physically unsafe is far larger (16 per cent).
Landlords are receiving £5.6 billion a year on rent for homes with category 1 hazards, which includes £1.3 billion of housing benefit.
With the cost of buying property rising steeply in many parts of the country, couples with children are now the most common household type in the private rental market. They have little to no means to fight rogue landlords, the charity warns and urges to action.
Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said:
“Rogue landlords are putting profits before safety.
“With a growing private rental sector, increasing numbers of people – including more than 500,000 children – are falling prey to landlords who fail to meet decent standards.
“The Government has rightly said it wants to tackle the country’s housing crisis – it must make targeting dodgy landlords, giving tenants better rights and driving up standards a major part of that effort.”
The charity recommends:
- Tenants should be entitled to rent refunds where properties are dangerous or not fit to live in.
- A national landlord register should be set up. This could help ensure landlords operating illegally cannot move to different areas to avoid legal action.
- Councils should also set up local licensing to tackle specific issues in their private rental markets. This could help to ensure landlords are providing the quality of housing and service the area needs and ensure tenants know what they can expect from a good landlord.
In the last year more than 80,000 people came to the Citizens Advice Bureau suffering a problem with a privately rented home.
