The Ministry of Housing’s 2016-17 English Housing Survey, released in 2018, has revealed that millions of private renters live in homes that do not meet the Government’s minimum standards for human habitation. Almost a third (27%) of them fall below the Decent Homes Standards, a set of criteria that aims to regulate the condition of all council and housing association homes.
Moreover, another report released in April 2018 by Hometrack UK found that house price inflation is running at the moment at 4.9% year on year, meaning that many Britons have little choice but to live in rental accommodation often found to be under the standard.
“Landlords have a responsibility to their tenants to ensure that the rental property is safe, secure and well maintained. Unfortunately, many landlords are taking advantage of the current property market and providing the bare minimum at vastly inflated prices. The shortage of available housing is causing tenants to ‘put up and shut up’ as many live in fear of being unfairly evicted if they demand improvements to the property,” said Richard Taube, director of design and construction at South Coast Estates.
The increased demand for rental properties and the shortage of new private rented accommodation suggests that there will continue to be a ‘sustained demand for good quality rented accommodation’ and increased opportunities for investors who can offer professionally managed modern homes to prospective renters, according to Alan Collett, fund manager at Hearthstone Investments.
The landlords who want to improve their tenants’ living conditions often take the following measures: upgrade fire ratings, regularly maintain alarms and security systems, tackle pest control and renovate communal areas.
Increasingly, landlords are looking at launching projects that can help to pay for such improvements. One such strategy is the use of air space development – in which additional storeys are built on to existing properties. Such projects often have the benefit of guaranteeing improvement work on all communal areas, along with the exterior of the building and the grounds. Making these changes will not only improve living conditions for tenants, it will also help to preserve the condition of the property itself.
