UK renters furious as Decent Homes Standard delayed until 2035

Published: 05 December 2025. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online

The UK government’s decision to delay the enforcement of the Decent Homes Standard until 2035 has sparked outrage among renters, MPs, and housing campaigners, leaving millions of tenants waiting nearly a decade for legally guaranteed safe and habitable living conditions. The flagship policy, designed to ensure that homes in the private rented sector are free from damp, mould, and disrepair, will now leave a significant portion of England’s rental stock unregulated for years.

According to the latest English Housing Survey, 22 per cent of privately rented homes are currently considered non-decent, a figure representing more than one million properties and unchanged since 2019. For renters like Tish, who moved into a Liverpool flat in 2017, the delay is a bitter blow. Over the course of her tenancy, she faced persistent damp, mould, and structural disrepair that affected both her and her daughter’s health.

“The flat roof extension was leaking from day one and eventually collapsed in 2024, flooding the kitchen,” Tish recounted. “If someone had been standing underneath, it could have killed them. My daughter and I suffered really bad ill health from all of it. My landlord knew he would get away with it.” Carpets coated with mould spores, crumbling stairs, rusted bathtubs, and cupboards falling off walls became part of her daily life. The delay of the Decent Homes Standard, she said, signals to landlords that negligent practices will continue unpunished for years.

The policy, already applied to the social housing sector, would require landlords to maintain windows, boilers, kitchens, and bathrooms in a reasonable state of repair while ensuring adequate heating. Currently, private landlords must only ensure their properties are free from Category 1 hazards—issues like severe damp and mould that pose a risk to health—with local authorities able to enforce compliance and issue fines up to £30,000, rising to £40,000 in May.

Adrian Fletcher, 54, who recently moved into a severely damp flat on the South East coast, expressed similar frustration. “You put your hand on the walls and it comes away wet. DVDs and cardboard boxes have been ruined by mould. My lounge gets incredibly cold because of a single-glazed window, and I have to wipe down condensation constantly,” he said. Chronic pain from a spine injury has worsened due to the living conditions, but he fears challenging the landlord could trigger a Section 21 eviction.

Housing campaigners say the delayed enforcement essentially gives unscrupulous landlords a “green light” to neglect maintenance, disproportionately affecting low-income tenants who have few alternatives. Paul Shanks, spokesperson for the Renters’ Rights Campaign, warned that millions of people will face health, safety, and financial consequences due to the prolonged timeline. “A fifth of rented homes fail to meet the Decent Homes Standard. The government’s lack of urgency allows landlords to continue profiting from unsafe, substandard housing,” he said.

The government defended its decision, highlighting that serious hazards must still be addressed immediately and that councils retain the authority to fine non-compliant landlords. An MHCLG spokesperson emphasised that protections like the Renters’ Rights Act and Awaab’s Law will improve enforcement and expand tenant rights, while the rollout of a Private Landlord Ombudsman will allow complaints to be addressed more quickly. They also noted that elements of the standard, such as updated Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards, will be implemented sooner, offering tenants warmer homes and lower energy bills.

Nonetheless, for tenants like Tish and Adrian, the delays mean living with unsafe conditions for years to come. Their stories underscore the human cost of substandard housing: respiratory illnesses, stress, financial loss, and daily exposure to dangerous and unhygienic conditions. The government’s decade-long timeline, critics argue, risks entrenching these problems further rather than alleviating them.

For renters facing mould, damp, and disrepair, the delayed Decent Homes Standard represents more than a bureaucratic setback—it is a delay in safety, health, and basic human dignity. Without urgent action, millions will remain at the mercy of negligent landlords well into the 2030s, highlighting the pressing need for both enforcement and reform in England’s rental housing sector.

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