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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment the Government has made of the implications of the findings of the report by Age UK, Ageing in Squalor and distress: older people in the private rented sector, published in October 2016, on the proportion of older people who do not live in specialised retirement housing, for its policies on the accessibility of new and existing homes for older people.

The private rented sector is an important part of our housing market, housing 4.3 million households in England. The quality of privately rented housing has improved rapidly over the past decade with 82% of private renters satisfied with their accommodation, and staying in their homes for an average of 4 years.

The recent report by Age UK about older people living in the private rented sector provides useful information about the challenges faced by older people who rent privately. While the majority of landlords provide decent well managed accommodation, we know that a small number of rogue or criminal landlords knowingly rent out unsafe and substandard accommodation. We are determined to improve standards for all tenants and crack down on these landlords. Significant progress has already been made in doing this:

• £12 million provided to a number of local authorities to help tackle acute and complex problems with rogue landlords, including “Beds in Sheds”. More than 70,000 properties have been inspected and over 5,000 landlords are facing further enforcement action or prosecution;
• Introduced protection for tenants against retaliatory eviction where they have a legitimate complaint and stopped landlords from serving an open-ended eviction notice at the start of a tenancy;
• Required landlords to install smoke alarms on every floor of their property, and test them at the start of every tenancy, and to install carbon monoxide alarms in high risk rooms;
• The Housing & Planning Act 2016 introduced further powers to help crack down on rogue landlords, including a database of rogue landlords and property agents, banning orders for the most serious and prolific offenders, civil penalties of up to £30,000 and extended rent repayment orders.