The Decent Homes Standard is Coming to Private Rentals: What Private Tenants Get

Direct answer

The Decent Homes Standard has set the minimum condition for social housing in England since 2006. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 creates the power to extend that standard to private rented homes for the first time. The standard itself for private renting is being brought in on a longer timetable that the government is still confirming, so it is not in force for private renters yet. In the meantime, councils already enforce housing conditions in private rentals through the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, and private tenants already have rights under Section 11 and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018.

What "decent" actually means

The Decent Homes Standard tests four things. A home is decent only if it meets all four.

1. It meets the current statutory minimum standard for housing. This is the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). A home that has a Category 1 hazard under HHSRS (a serious risk to health) fails the Decent Homes Standard automatically. Category 1 hazards include damp and mould, excess cold, fire risk, electrical hazards, falls, food safety, sanitation, and structural collapse, among others.

2. It is in a reasonable state of repair. The standard tests both "key" components (external walls, structure, roof, doors, windows, chimneys, central heating system) and "other" components (kitchen, bathroom, internal doors, electrics). A home fails if a key component is old and in poor condition, or if two or more other components are old and in poor condition. "Old" is defined by component-specific age thresholds.

3. It has reasonably modern facilities and services. The kitchen must be 20 years old or less, with adequate space and layout. The bathroom must be 30 years old or less, in an appropriate location. There must be adequate noise insulation, and adequate size and layout of common entrance areas for blocks of flats.

4. It provides a reasonable degree of thermal comfort. The home must have effective insulation and efficient heating. The standard sets specific energy-efficiency criteria.

These are the same four tests that have applied to social housing for two decades. The Renters Rights Act opens the door to extending them to the millions of private renters in England, once the government confirms the start date.

How enforcement works

The Decent Homes Standard is enforced through local authority environmental-health teams. The typical sequence:

1. Tenant complains, or a complaint comes from another source. Most cases start with a tenant complaint to the local council's environmental-health team. A neighbour, a doctor, or a charity can also raise concerns.

2. Environmental Health inspects. The inspector applies the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) to identify hazards.

3. The council decides on enforcement. For Category 1 hazards, the council has a statutory duty to act. Options include an improvement notice, a prohibition order (forbidding occupation in part of the property), a hazard awareness notice (lowest level), an emergency remedial action (council does the works and bills the landlord), or a demolition order in rare cases.

4. The landlord complies, or faces consequences. Failure to comply with an improvement notice is a criminal offence under the Housing Act 2004. Fines can reach £30,000 per offence, plus a banning order in serious or repeat cases.

The Renters Rights Act gives local authorities additional powers to enforce against private landlords, including a private renting database that records compliance history.

What private tenants can do today

Even before the enforcement phasing finishes, the underlying Housing Health and Safety Rating System has applied to private rentals for years. What is new is the explicit Decent Homes Standard wrapper and the higher political priority enforcement now gets.

If your private home has any of the following, complain to your local council's environmental-health team.

• Damp or mould affecting any habitable room
• No working heating, or heating that costs an unaffordable amount to run
• Electrical hazards (sparks, exposed wires, no working RCD)
• Structural cracking
• Pest infestations the landlord refuses to address
• A kitchen or bathroom older than the Decent Homes age threshold and in poor condition
• A boiler over 15 years old with no service record
• Inadequate ventilation in kitchens or bathrooms
• Old single-glazed windows in a home with no other thermal-comfort provision

Your council has a duty to inspect for Category 1 hazards. Send the complaint by email or via the council's online form. Keep dated copies of everything.

How this fits with Section 11 and Awaab's Law

Three legal layers now sit on top of each other for private tenants:

• Section 11 LTA 1985 has applied to all assured shorthold tenancies for nearly 40 years. It covers structure, exterior, water, gas, electrical, sanitation, heating. A breach gives the tenant a private-law claim in the County Court.
• Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 added a fitness duty. A private tenant can sue if the home is unfit at any point during the tenancy.
• The Decent Homes Standard will add a defined component-by-component condition test for private renting and give local councils more enforcement teeth, once the government confirms the start date.

Awaab's Law is social-housing only for now, and the government has said it intends to extend it to private tenancies in future. The timetable for that is still to be confirmed.

For private tenants now, the most reliable enforcement route is the council's environmental-health team plus a Section 11 claim where the damage warrants it.

Where Support for Tenants fits

We act for private tenants in England and Wales on Section 11 claims and Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act claims on no-win-no-fee terms. On no win, no fee terms you pay nothing up front, and the solicitor's fee only comes out of your compensation if you win, never out of your own pocket. If your case is better suited to environmental-health enforcement, we will tell you on the first call.

Read the Renters' Rights Act 2025 in-force day one report | Free call: 0800 030 4669

Sources: Renters' reform in England: what's happening and when, House of Commons Library; GOV.UK, Renters' Rights Act guidance.

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