17th
Apr 2023
A lender claims that 60 per cent of private landlords back the introduction of a minimum set of property standards for the private rented sector.
The lender held a survey with over 500 landlords which found that 34 per cent were strongly in favour of the property standards and a further 28 per cent said to be in general behind the measure; apparently 8 per cent had never heard of the proposed plans to introduce the Decent Homes Standard.
The government is committed to ‘honouring’ its pledge of introducing a Decent Homes Standard for private rented homes and plays a key role in the Renters Reform Bill which is expected to go before parliament later this year.
The survey also found 74 per cent of landlords were frustrated by the inadequacies of local authorities dealing with ‘rogue’ agents and landlords tarnishing the sector.
The bank’s latest report ( Raising the standards of privately rented property) shows that over the past 15 years there has been a significant improvement in the standard of privately rented homes, in line with the growth of available buy-to-let mortgage products.
In 2008 the government’s English Housing Survey found that 44 per cent of private rented homes were classed as non-decent which is now reduced by virtually half down to 23 per cent.
The lender says in 2008 1.8 million private rented homes were classed as ‘decent’ which rose to 3.3 million in 2021 - an 83 per cent increase, over the same period there has been a fall in in non-decent PRS homes of 29 per cent from 1.4 million down to 990,000.
In 2001 the government introduced the Decent Homes Standard into the social housing sector, subsequently the proportion of sub-standard homes reduced by 39 per cent from 1.4 million in 2001 down to 13 per cent in 2020.
A spokesperson for the lender, said: “The vast majority of landlords have nothing to fear from a Decent Homes Standard as they are providing a good quality home to their tenants already.
“It’s the minority of landlords who don’t meet these standards that are tarnishing the wider reputation of the sector.
“Landlords have made great strides in improving the standards of rental property over the past 15 years and they should be celebrated.”
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