The latest English Housing Survey report on the private rental sector gives the lie to the perception that most tenants are unhappy.
The results were published by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities just before the weekend, and show that:
- The private rental sector now consists of 4.4m households - 19 per cent of all households in England;
- Four fifths (80 per cent) of private renters are satisfied with their current accommodation - in contrast only 75 per cent of social housing renters are satisfied;
- 63 per cent of private renters are ‘satisfied with their tenure’ - the social housing figure is 79 per cent;
- Some 17 per cent of private tenants have considered masking a complaint to their landlord or letting agency and over three quarters of those actually did make such a complaint;
- In 2020 (the year of the survey) 23 per cent of occupied homes in the private rented sector did not meet the Decent Homes Standard. This is higher than the proportion of owner occupied (14 per cent) and social rented homes (11 per cent);
- The private rented sector also has the greatest proportion of homes built before 1919, and 32 per cent of homes built before 1919 are non-decent;
- The average cost to make a home decent is £7,720, though this varies by tenure, dwelling age and dwelling type;
- There is a strong relationship between energy efficiency and housing quality, and most homes (of all tenures) with poor energy efficiency do not meet the Decent Homes Standard;
- In 2020, 96 per cent per cent of homes with an energy efficiency rating of band F or G failed the Decent Homes Standard, as did 38 per cent of homes in EER band E. In contrast, only seven per cent of homes with an EER band C and 15 per cent in EER band D were non-decent.
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Doesn’t stop the lefties moaning about it though does it ?
Of Course majority of Tenants are happy with their Landlord’s, its a shame the Government keeps increasing their Rents.
They should be able to sue Government not the LL..
I see a lot of Candidates lining themselves up to be Premier making all sorts of promises yet none have said they will scrap Section 21, the only one issue that could possibly lessen the impact of imminent Recession.
wlll not, typo
They are all out of touch with decent tenants and landlords!
Interesting that EPC rating is the most likely thing to make a home "not decent". So many, very well cared for rental homes (and owner occupied houses like the one I live in) are considered non decent because the measures needed to improve the EPC are impractical and too expensive to be economically viable. I guess I will have to refund rent to myself!!
It is those houses that are EPC F & G that are worst - no wonder, these will be houses that have had nothing done at all for 40 years, so not really surprising they don't meet the decent homes criteria. Only 23% in the PRS didn't meet the criteria - Mostar EPC C or D. Bit of a non story in my book - houses which have had no work done for years are not decent & have low EPC scores! Really?
I've got an F rated house with an exception, it is a decent house with no damp issues, it was renovated in the early 90s, 2 guys late 50s and early 60s been in there 5 yrs and very happy, give away rent £476 a month, I'm happy enough with that I only paid £13,500 and spent around £7k + my free labour renovating it in the early 90s, horses for courses
The fact that 80% of Private Renters are happy with their accommodation will be ignored by the Government and Councils because Facts are irrelevant to them. Levelling Up, Tenants Reform , sound wonderful if you do not have a clue how the Private Rental sector works.
The Facts are : Most Tenants and Landlords get on well. Their Policies are forcing Good Landlords out, Decreasing available rental stock, and driving up Rents. I do not think Older Properties, should not automatically be referred to as Not Decent. because they have not got a grade C on the EPC .
From the Report above almost 1 million households will probably be unrentable when an EPC grade C becomes mandatory.
Nothing wrong with the Victorian terraced houses, people love living in them, they rent well, but will struggle to get to an EPC C, and if they do get there they will be damp due to the condensation caused
How many properties are still exactly the same as when the EPC was last done?
How many EPCs were deliberately done to achieve a low score by insulation companies to get grant funding?
How many assumptions are being made regarding property standards purely by looking at flawed EPC ratings?
I have one that used to be D57. The original EPC said that to get a C I would need cavity wall insulation, upgraded heating controls and a new band A condensing boiler.
I applied for subsidised cavity wall insulation and their starting point was to do an EPC. This time it was E47 (they decided to assume the roof had no insulation even though I had Building Control certificates to say it complied with the standard required in 2014 and photos of the roofer installing it). It stated I needed cavity wall insulation, solid floor insulation, a new condensing boiler, solar water heating and solar photovoltaic panels.
In reality a different assessor would give it a much higher score now as I would be far more insistent on the roof insulation being acknowledged and I've done the cavity wall insulation, upgraded heating controls and new boiler. I'm not willing to pay for another EPC right now so it can stay as being registered as E until either it expires in December 2025 or I want to remortgage and try for a Green mortgage. It may only be £55 for an EPC but it's my £55 and it's staying in my pocket for as long as possible. As I include the utilities in the rent for that property it is in my interest to make the property as energy efficient as possible. As far as I am concerned I have carried out every viable improvement possible and the fact the EPC certificate doesn't currently reflect the reality is just one of those things.
I have an empty end terraced that I'm currently tiding up and decorating, it has an expired EPC D , so before renting I shall have to get my lady EPC assure out, she has always been fair and helpful, I'll let you know how I get on
If your EPC is 10 years old it will be irrelevant anyway - the assessment & recommendations have changed so much in 10 years. Really they are like an MOT - only accurate at the moment they are done.
It is laughable that we are being asked to use them as a tool for improvement when they are so inaccurate & variable.
I had a house down graded from C to D at the 10 years renewal mainly due to Tenants interference following him around haunting him, as a result the insulated plaster board on all internal of exterior walls was missed. Tenants have too much power, anyway it will have to stay that way until I have to get it changed, too much time spent dealing with invented issues
Why is it that every survey in the last 10 years shows the same thing, 80% tenants happy, yet we are treated as though 80% were unhappy? Soon they will be unhappy because they won't be able to find anywhere to live, or the only place they can get won't be anything like what they want. Would like to think there might be some changes with Johnson and Gove both gone, but that may be too much to hope for.
The unhappy minority are always the loudest and make everything worse for the majority.
I heard that Boris could be standing for leader as well, I suppose there is no reason why he could not.
who would have thunk it?
My epcs conveniently expires in 2030
Just in time for ze grate reset …
Yes George, good old Karl Schwab and Prince Charles.
Nice to know your establishment hates you isn’t it ?
Chuck hasn’t done a days work in his life , spends most of his time talking to plants …
When the queen dies and he takes over we are well and truly stuffed
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