Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help improve the private rented sector for tenants in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
A summary of the measures in the Renters’ Rights Act can be found on gov.uk here and a roadmap for implementation can be found on gov.uk here.
Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) already apply in the private rented sector, requiring landlords to ensure their properties meet at least an EPC rating of E. Local authorities have powers to enforce these standards. Under the updated PRS MEES framework, this minimum standard will rise to EPC C by 2030. This change will help tenants benefit from lower energy bills and warmer, healthier homes that are less prone to damp and mould, contributing to reduced fuel poverty.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking with local authorities to improve the quality of local housing stock.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Everyone deserves to live in a decent, warm, and comfortable home.
The government recently consulted on both the content and implementation of a new, modernised Decent Homes Standard. The consultation outcome can be found on gov.uk here and the impact assessment on gov.uk here.
We also consulted on new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards for both the social rented and private rented sectors. The social rented sector consultation outcome can be found on gov.uk here and the private rented sector consultation outcome here.
The first phase of Awaab’s Law came into force for the social rented sector on 27 October. Awaab’s Law is vital legislation that will empower social tenants to hold their landlords to account using the full force of the law if they fail to investigate and fix hazards within their homes within set timescales. It will also allow tenants to access the Housing Ombudsman if their landlord does not adhere to strict timelines for action.
The government has also committed itself to bring forward new regulations this summer to bring the conclusions of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) review into force. The HHSRS is the cornerstone of housing standards, and the forthcoming regulations will make it more efficient and accessible for experts to use, and easier to understand for landlords and tenants.
We are also acting to ensure private tenants have safe, warm, and decent homes including strengthening local authority enforcement in respect of unremedied hazards and applying Awaab’s Law Act to the PRS through the relevant provisions in the Renters’ Rights Act.
The government is also supporting improvements to existing homes through the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, which has allocated £1.29 billion over 2025-28 to support social landlords to make energy efficiency improvements to their homes.
Over £1 billion of building safety funding will also be available between 2026/27 and 2029/30 to accelerate remediation of social housing. These targeted funds are in addition to the 10-year social housing rent settlement that will improve providers’ financial capacity to invest in new and existing homes.
The government is also supporting estate regeneration schemes to transform neighbourhoods and deliver well designed housing and a better quality of life for tenants. The new Social and Affordable Homes Programme will also support regeneration schemes that provide a net increase in affordable homes.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department is taking steps to extend Awaab's Law to private rented sector housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the roadmap for implementing the Renters' Rights Act 2025 published on 13 November 2025 which can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Department is taking to help ensure that housing in the private rented sector is maintained to the appropriate standards.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Every tenant deserves to live in a decent, warm, and comfortable home.
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 will extend Awaab’s Law to the private rented sector and introduce a Decent Homes Standard for privately rented homes for the first time.
A summary of the measures in the Act which can be found on gov.uk here and a roadmap for implementation can be found on gov.uk here.
Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) already apply in the private rented sector, requiring landlords to ensure their properties meet at least an EPC rating of E. Local authorities have powers to enforce these standards. Under the updated PRS MEES framework, this minimum standard will rise to EPC C by 2030. This change will help tenants benefit from lower energy bills and warmer, healthier homes that are less prone to damp and mould, contributing to reduced fuel poverty.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of expediting implementation of the Decent Homes Standard to improve maintenance practices in privately rented properties.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government consulted on both the content and implementation of a new, modernised Decent Homes Standard and has published a full impact assessment setting out the rationale for implementing the standard in 2035. The consultation outcome can be found on gov.uk here and the impact assessment on gov.uk here.
Private rented sector landlords should address non-decency wherever it exists. While we are giving landlords until 2035 to implement our new Decent Homes Standard, we have made clear they should not wait until 2035 to improve their properties.
We are also acting in other ways to ensure private tenants have safe, warm, and decent homes including introducing new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards for the sector; strengthening local authority enforcement in respect of unremedied hazards; and applying Awaab’s Law Act to the PRS through the relevant provisions in the Renters’ Rights Act.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the the potential merits of using the private rented sector to fulfil the statutory duty to homeless households.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
High-quality accommodation in the private rented sector plays an important role in councils discharging their homelessness duties. In England in 2024/25, 52,870 households had their prevention or relief duty ended with accommodation secured in the private rented sector, and 4,070 households had their main duty ended having accepted a private rented sector offer.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what number and proportion of those claiming a) housing benefit and b) the UC housing element live in the social rented sector.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Monthly statistics for the number of households on Housing Benefit (HB) and the number of Households on Universal Credit (UC) are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore, with data currently available to November 2025. The statistics are available by Tenure Type for HB, and by Housing Entitlement - Tenure for UC.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance and the Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what number and proportion of those living in i) all tenures and ii) the social rented sector have their rent a) partly and b) fully paid by either housing benefit or the housing element of UC.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the number and proportion of households in the private rented sector in receipt of Housing Benefit (HB), and if it covers rent, is available on Stat-Xplore via the Housing Benefit Official Statistics (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/). The information can be found in the Housing Benefit – Data from April 2018 dataset and is currently available to November 2025.
Universal Credit (UC) is a single integrated benefit made up of different elements, such as Housing. Households receive one combined monthly payment, and any deductions apply to the total award, not individual elements. As a result, it is not possible to isolate and compare the Universal Credit Housing Element (UCHE) to rents. However, the number and proportion of private rented sector households where rent is higher than Local Housing Allowance rate is available on Stat-Xplore and can be found in the Universal Credit – Households on Universal Credit dataset and is currently available to November 2025.
For households receiving housing support in the social rented sector, the Department provides support that covers eligible rents in full, unless reduced by the Removal of Spare Room Subsidy or if they have income or savings, contributions from non-dependants, or limited by the benefit cap. Data on the number of households in social rented sector, how many households are subject to Removal of Spare Room Subsidy and how many households are subject to Benefit Cap can be found on Stat-Xplore.
Providing the rest of the information requested would incur disproportionate cost.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest, and if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.
Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of minimum energy efficiency standards exemptions relating to leaseholder or third-party consent on progress towards improving energy efficiency in the private rented sector.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The impact assessment published alongside the government response to the improving the energy performance of privately rented homes consultation contains information on the expected impact of third party consent exemptions on improving energy efficiency in the private rented sector. The treatment of exemptions in the PRS MEES modelling is found in the attached table.
Table - Treatment of exemptions in the PRS MEES modelling
Exemption | Treatment in modelling |
High-Cost exemption | Modelled: If the cost of making even the cheapest improvement exceeds the cost cap, we do not upgrade a property. |
All Relevant Improvements Made exemption | Modelled: If no relevant improvements can be made then no improvements are made in the modelling. |
Cost Cap exemption | Modelled: Where landlords install measures and hit the cost cap before reaching MEES, the model stops upgrading the property. |
Property Value Adjustment exemption (affordability exemption) | Not modelled: This exemption allows landlords of properties valued below £100,000 to work to a cost cap that is 10% of the property’s value. The NBM does not contain property prices to allow robust modelling of the exemption. |
Solid Wall Insulation (SWI) exemption | Modelled: For simplicity, we assume all landlords who can take advantage of this exemption do so (there may in reality be a small number of landlords who still wish to install SWI). Thus, our modelling results do not include SWI. |
Negative Impacts exemption | Not modelled: We do not account for specific cases where a measure is recommended on an EPC, but determined to negatively impact a property or its value through some other assessment. |
Third-Party Consent exemption | Partially modelled: We do account for in-situ tenants not consenting to improvements at a rate of 10%. However, we do not account for refused consent from other third parties, including superior landlords (freeholders) and local authorities through planning permission processes. |
New landlord exemption | Not modelled: We do not account for property transfers, but given new landlords exemptions only last for 6 months this will not significantly affect modelling results |
Asked by: Llinos Medi (Plaid Cymru - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of lowering the landlord cost cap and introducing low property value exemptions for minimum energy efficiency standards on private renters in Wales.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government’s response to the consultation on increasing the minimum energy efficiency standard for private rented homes was accompanied by the Department’s Impact Assessment. The assessment provides an estimated impact of the final policy based on a range of data available, including HM Land Registry and property price data available for Wales. The measures included in the final policy are intended to be proportional to help manage the burden placed on landlords and the impact on the rental market, whilst still delivering improved, warmer, cheaper to heat homes for private rented sector tenants.