Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of using the Property Portal to record accessibility information on private sector dwellings.

The Government is committed to helping disabled people to live independently and safely in their home. The Renters (Reform) Bill will help improve the quality of privately rented homes by introducing a Decent Homes Standard in the private rented sector for the first time. This will ensure tenants, including those with disabilities, benefit from homes that are safe and decent.

Through the abolition of Section 21 evictions, the Bill will give all tenants greater security in their home and will empower disabled tenants to challenge poor practice and request home adaptations where they are needed, without worrying about retaliatory eviction by their landlord. The Bill will also create a new PRS Landlord Ombudsman which tenants can complain to if they think their landlord unreasonably refused permission to make an adaptation to their home. The Bill will also make practices by landlords and/or those acting on their behalf which discriminate against those who receive benefits, including disability benefits, illegal.

We are working with a range of stakeholders to understand what information is important to tenants when using the property portal and will outline this in regulations.