Local authorities are not enforcing private landlords’ legal duty to maintain safe housing, a BBC investigation has found.
Panorama revealed that in the past seven years, there were more than 570,000 complaints (from 255 council responses) about privately rented homes in England and Wales. In more than 90% of cases, no action was taken and fewer than 1% of complaints resulted in a landlord being prosecuted.
The programme - Britain’s Mouldy Homes - investigated the condition of rented properties and found that councils faced significant ongoing and historic challenges with resourcing, according to the Local Government Association.
“There is a perfect storm now happening, some of which is around really stretched funding, some of which is around the age of homes,” said England’s Housing Ombudsman Richard Blakeway.
The programme focused on a young mother and her child in Brighton who were battling black mould and poor health in her private rented home. After she complained to Brighton & Hove Council, the landlord installed extractor fans and provided dehumidifiers. The family secured legal aid to pay for an independent inspection which found the flat was “unfit for human habitation”.
The council said it could not enforce the recommendations, while the landlord accepted that there was a problem with condensation but said the continuing issues were due to neglect by the tenant not clearing away condensation.
More than half a million rented homes - both private and social - have black mould issues in England, a 2023 government survey found. More than 26,000 babies and toddlers were admitted to hospital last year with lung conditions probably linked to exposure to damp and mould, according to a Panorama analysis of NHS England data.
Landlords will be forced to investigate and fix damp and mould in social housing in England within strict timescales from October under Awaab’s Law which will soon cover the private sector as part of the Renters’ Rights Bill.
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