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Private tenants

You can find out about your rights as a private tenant and how we ensure you have a safe and healthy home.

Housing standards

We can assess your property to determine if poor housing conditions will have an impact on your health, safety and wellbeing.

The Housing Health and Safety Rating System is used to assess a total of 29 hazards within the home that have a negative impact on health. Examples of typical hazards include damp and mould, fire, danger of falling, excess cold and overcrowding.

Where significant hazards are found, we can take action against your landlord to ensure your property is safe and free from hazards that might affect your health.

Ideally, we try to resolve issues informally, but we will take formal legal action when necessary. 

We can:

  • make sure homes comply with Housing Health and Safety Rating System and Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) standards
  • help reduce the number of privately rented homes that lack modern bathroom and kitchen facilities, contain hazards or have poor thermal insulation
  • help residents who are experiencing fuel poverty, especially older residents who are at greater risk of poor health as a result of living in a cold home
  • deal with pest control and drainage problems
  • help people with disabilities adapt their homes to improve their independence

Published: 30 December 2020

Last updated: 25 September 2023