Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment have they made of the adequacy of the legislation protecting private sector tenants.

The Government is committed to offering stronger protections for private sector tenants and ensuring that people are living in safe and good quality properties.

Tenants are protected from eviction through the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, the Housing Act 1988, the Housing Act 1985 and through the retaliatory eviction provisions in the Deregulation Act 2015.

Other legislation includes the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requiring landlords to keep electrical installations in the property in repair and proper working order and the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), introduced by the Housing Act 2004 to assess health and safety in residential properties. The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) regulations protect tenants from death or injury in the home caused by smoke and carbon monoxide poisoning, and the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Sector Property) (England and Wales) Regulations improve the energy efficiency of domestic privately rented properties.

Government is now going further and has announced a mandatory requirement on landlords in the private rented sector to ensure electrical installations in their property are inspected every five years and is supporting the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Bill.