NRLA calls for urgent action on housing regulations after years of delay

The NRLA is urging the government to introduce the UK’s housing, health and safety rating system (HHSRS) after years of delay.

RHE Global was commissioned by the previous government to review the UK’s Housing, Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) and finished the two-year review in 2022.

This came after the Conservative government released a policy paper in September 2023, setting out the outcomes and next steps. The government promised to act on the review’s findings, but nothing has happened so far.

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA, says the Labour government must act on the findings of the report.

Release new guidance

In the policy paper, the government promised to take action based on the review’s findings and laid out several key commitments.

First, they plan to combine some hazards to make the system easier to understand and enforce. They’ll also publish baselines to help make an initial assessment of whether a property has serious hazards.

Other key commitments include:

• Issue new statutory operating and enforcement guidance, along with a comprehensive set of new case studies.
• Release updated landlord and new tenant guidance, which will make the system more accessible, and can help guide self-assessments by landlords as to whether their properties contain serious hazards.
• The publication of specific guidance to support inspections of fire and explosion hazards and associated minimum standards.

In the Renters’ Rights Bill, the government plans to extend the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector for the first time.

The NRLA says the new regulations required to update the HHSRS must be introduced as soon as possible.

The NRLA believes that this work can provide a baseline for local authority enforcement officers to hold rogue and criminal landlords to account in future.

Findings to languish in a Whitehall filing cabinet

Ben Beadle, chief executive at the National Residential Landlords Association, said: “The NRLA supports the efforts to drive up standards across all rental housing, but it is crucial that the government base its next steps on good quality evidence, and professional experience.

“The ambitions outlined in the Renters’ Rights Bill require a comprehensive and comprehensible set of standards. Implementing the findings of the HHSRS review would provide the basis for this and help to identify and deal with instances of non-decency within both the private and social rented sectors.

“It is essential that the effort and insight which contributed to the review is not wasted by allowing the findings to languish in a Whitehall filing cabinet.”

Make system more efficient

In response, Alan Davies, director of housing at RHE, did not give a date on when the new regulations would be implemented.

He said: “RHE Global is pleased to have been commissioned by the previous government to deliver the HHSRS Review. The recommendations proposed by the review are underpinned by extensive research and sector-wide stakeholder engagement.

“We believe these updates will make the system more efficient for local authorities and easier for landlords to navigate. By introducing clearer guidance, landlords will benefit from a more straightforward system, enabling them to better manage their properties.

“We look forward to hearing more about the government’s proposed next steps in due course.”

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