answer text |
<p>The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 is helping to drive up standards
in the private and social rented sectors by putting an obligation on landlords to
ensure that any rented residential properties are free of all hazards, including overcrowding,
from which a risk of harm may arise to the health or safety of the tenant or another
occupier of the property. This requirement applies from the outset and for the duration
of the tenancy.</p><p>This Department has not made a specific assessment of the implications
for properties that are smaller than 13 square metres in relation to the Homes Act.
The courts will decide whether a property is fit for human habitation by considering
the matters set out in section 10 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, which includes
the ‘overcrowding’ hazard prescribed in the Housing Health and Safety (England) Regulations
2005. Each property is assessed on its own merits, and if a property is so small as
to be hazardously overcrowded, tenants will have the right to take action in the courts
for breach of contract on the grounds that the property is unfit for human habitation.</p><p>Government
is also reviewing the hazards set out in the 2005 Regulations as part of the comprehensive
review of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).</p><p> </p>
|
|