An online student magazine ‘Tab’ is telling their readers that if they are tenants they should “go lawsuit crazy” on March 20th when the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act will be enforced.

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The article explains that the Act only applies to England and was passed in 2019, however with the provisions it is for new tenancies that start on March 20th and thereafter.

The publication’s story was headlined “You can now sue your scumbag landlord for the mould in your student house”.

The article then goes onto say: “You can actually claim money back for your new student house that ended up a little bit less than perfect (rats don’t count as a fun extra flatmate, stop lying to yourself), if it’s bad enough.”

The magazine purports that “probably 90 per cent” of student digs across the UK are not fit to live in and urges readers "to gather up all of your mice and volatile organic compounds and go lawsuit crazy!"

The MHCLG (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) says that there is the Housing Health and Safety Rating System which can be used as a guideline to assess and measure properties against the Act.

The most contentious part of the act is that tenants will be given the power to take their landlords to court, if they fail to carry out their legal obligations in providing a property that is truly fit for human habitation.

The measures to be included when judging the properties will include the general state of repair, no damp or mould in any rooms, stability, ventilation, water supply, drainage, sanitary conditions, natural lighting, disposal of waste water, cooking facilities.

An association of independent inventory clerks fully supports extending the act to all tenancies.

A spokesperson said: “There has never been a more important time to utilise the skills of an independent property inspector to assess conditions in a tenanted property and carefully go through an appropriate list of the hazards to be looked out for. Property inventory clerks can go through properties assessing the 29 risks and assigning a risk category, where appropriate, to anything found to be deemed a safety issue”.

The extension is described as “a great step in the right direction for the protection of tenants and their safety, both physically and financially.”