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Date set for Bill allowing tenants to sue over property conditions

A date has been set for the next stage of the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Bill, which is being promoted as a Private Members’ Bill by Labour backbencher Karen Buck but which has government support and is likely to become law. 

The Bill's Report stage in the House of Commons is now scheduled for October 26. 

The Bill seeks to amend the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and if it becomes law it will ensure:

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- that all landlords (both social and private sector) must ensure that their property is fit for human habitation at the beginning of the tenancy and throughout and;

- where this is not done, the tenant will have the right to take legal action in the courts for breach of contract on the grounds that the property is unfit for human habitation.

ARLA supports the measure and says: “It will give renters greater protection against criminal operators, is a step in the right direction for the market, and as Karen Buck MP said, we look forward to working with her to achieve better enforcement against those who bring the sector into disrepute.”

  • jeremy clarke

    In my experience properties that are unfit for human habitation during a tenancy are where the tenants have caused the issues. Why would a landlord want an unfit property, especially with the threat of action and prosecution under the already existing and overbearing legislation policed by local authorities?

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    Yes totally agree something needs to be done ref tenant damage.

     
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    Why would a tenant move into a property like that if it started out that way? It's almost always the tenants' lifestyles.

     
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    Tenants trash properties a very difficult stressful expensive long winded court system to remove them.

    Are we now going to be sued for a tenants damage???

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    To sue tenants is a waste of time effort and money so landlords need a bad tenants register together with a signed off inventory as proof the property was good to start with. This would thin out bad landlords and pass the buck back to tenants if they chose not to sign off an inventory. It doesn't matter who produces the inventory provided there is a good one.

     
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    There is such a register of bad tenants, fully GDPR compliant, which can be found at https://www.landlordreferencing.co.uk

  •  G romit

    More laws that criminal Landlords will just ignore. Without proper enforcement the Government can enact as many laws as it likes but all that will happen is that good Landlords will see the burden and risks being just to high, and exit the market - leaving who? Answer: criminal Landlords.

    There are enough laws, rules and regulations to protect Tenants already, they just need enforcing.

  • James B

    Government just chasing generation rent votes with any angle they can think of

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