Hundreds of thousands of tenants in unsafe homes, survey finds

Weak regulation of private renting has left hundreds of thousands of tenants living in mouldy or dangerous homes, Citizens Advice has warned.
A survey of English landlords and tenants conducted on behalf of the charity found that half of landlords do not know or understand their legal obligations. Meanwhile, renters aren’t aware of their rights or don’t feel able to enforce them.
The result, it said, is that many tenants end up living in homes with health-affecting hazards such as mould, or dangerous problems such as missing or inoperative smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, it said.
Citizens Advice on Wednesday called for a national housing body for private renting to set standards. This could include creating a home “MOT”, or the setting a “fit-and-proper person” test for landlords and standardising rental contracts, it said. Full Article : The Guardian