Advice for Private Landlords and Tenants
Housing Standards enforcement officers are responsible for inspecting property conditions within the private rented sector. They target unfit properties, overcrowding and poor maintenance through education and enforcement, which can lead to legal action.
If you experience problems with the condition of your rented property, the council's Housing Standards Officer can help and advise with issues including:
- Disrepair
- Fire Safety in flats and bedsits
- Overcrowding conditions
- Inadequate facilities
- Dangerous fixtures
- Structural damage
Housing Standards enforcement officers are responsible for inspecting property conditions within the private rented sector. They target unfit properties, overcrowding and poor maintenance through education and enforcement, which can lead to legal action..
The officer's aim is to improve the poorest housing within the private rented sector by tackling issues that affect the health, safety and wellbeing of families and individuals who have least control over the standard of their living accommodation.
Accredited Property Scheme
The aims of the accredited property scheme are to encourage, acknowledge and actively promote good standards of privately rented accommodation, and to assist landlords and tenants to undertake their respective responsibilities to each other.
For further information, see our Accredited Property Scheme page
Harassment & Unlawful Eviction
Most landlords want to provide good and secure homes for their tenants and have no intention of causing distress to their tenants or of breaking the law.
If you feel that you are being harassed, threatened with unlawful eviction or if you have already been evicted unlawfully, you should contact the Council’s Housing Standards Team straight away.
For further information, please visit our Harassment & Unlawful Eviction page.
HMO Licensing
A House in Multiple Occupation is a house or flat that is occupied, as a main
residence, by more than one household, where occupiers share facilities such as kitchens, bathrooms and WCs.
This would include, for example, houses containing bedsits, a combination of bedsits and self contained flats where the bedsits share facilities, shared houses (including student houses) and hostels.
For further information on our HMO Licensing Scheme and HMO Licensing in general please visit our Housing in Multiple Occupation page.
Private Tenancies - Getting Repairs Done
Most landlords want to provide a good standard of accommodation for their tenants, so the first step to getting repairs done is to let your landlord know about the problem.
Sometimes some landlords may take too long to carry out repairs, or even refuse to do them altogether. If this is the case you should contact the Council’s Housing Standards Team and explain the problem.
For more information, please visit our Getting Repairs Done page.
Private Tenancies - Who does what?
Both private tenants and landlords have responsibilities which must be fulfilled if a tenancy is to run smoothly. We can provide advice on some of the main responsibilities of landlords and tenants.
For more information, please visit our Private Tenancies - Who does what? page