Tenants living in what they believe to be sub-standard housing are being urged to contact their landlord in writing before approaching the council.

A report to Cheshire East council’s health and wellbeing board, reported in local media in the area, claims links between poor housing conditions and health.

The report suggested that in 2022, some 970,000 people in the private rented sector in England and 416,000 of people in the social rented sector still lived in substandard housing.

Karen Carsberg, head of housing at Cheshire East council, told the meeting: “We have a team of housing standards officers who inspect and regulate housing in the private rented sector, including taking enforcement action. There are ways and means that we can enforce landlords to actually improve their properties.

“What we do encourage, and it is outlined on our website, is that tenants actually engage with landlords and put the complaints in writing to them in the first instance before they actually come to the team so that there is that record of making those complaints, and there is that evidence there to say that they have and the landlord has not taken any action to actually improve the property.”

She continued: “Previously, some tenants have been reluctant to actually come forward and make complaints because they fear that they’re going to be evicted. But there are grounds we can actually take action against landlords where we see that is actually happening.”

The meeting also spoke of tenants in both the private and social sectors who suffered from the cold, with some 20,163 residents in the Cheshire East area apparently in fuel poverty in 2022.

The report to the council states: “Damp is also a major contributing factor to ill health causing various respiratory problems, infections, and allergies. The English Housing Survey found that nine per cent of privately rented and 5.4 per cent of social rented homes [in England] had problems with damp in 2022/23.”

You can see the full local media report here: https://www.knutsfordguardian.co.uk/news/24736237.cheshire-east-raises-concerns-poor-housing-link-ill-health/