The Decent Homes Standard is coming to private rentals
For two decades the Decent Homes Standard applied only to social housing. The Renters' Rights Bill, which received its second reading in the House of Commons in October 2024 and is expected to come into force in 2025, extends it to the private rented sector in England. Once in force, every privately rented home will need to meet the standard, and local authorities will gain explicit enforcement powers to require improvements.
Landlords who already comply with HMO licensing conditions, the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 and EPC minimum standards will find much of the work familiar. But the Decent Homes Standard adds specific criteria that some older stock will fail, and the government has signalled that non-compliance will carry civil penalties.
What the Decent Homes Standard requires
The standard has four criteria, and a property must meet all of them to count as decent:
- Criterion A: It meets the statutory minimum standard for housing. Homes that contain a Category 1 hazard under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) fail automatically.
- Criterion B: It is in a reasonable state of repair. Key building components such as the roof, walls, windows, heating system and electrics must not be old and in poor condition.
- Criterion C: It has reasonably modern facilities and services. A kitchen or bathroom more than 20 years old and in poor condition, inadequate insulation or a lack of common facilities can cause failure.
- Criterion D: It provides a reasonable degree of thermal comfort, with effective insulation and an efficient heating system.
The government's consultation on extending the standard, published alongside the Renters' Rights Bill, proposed applying the same four criteria to private rentals with some adjustments, including how the 20-year age thresholds for facilities are assessed. Landlords should read the consultation response on GOV.UK for the final detail, because the government has indicated it will publish guidance on how each criterion will be applied to private tenancies.
Expected timeline and phasing
The Renters' Rights Bill is expected to receive Royal Assent in 2025, with the Decent Homes Standard applying to the private rented sector from an implementation date set in secondary legislation. The government has indicated a phased approach: existing tenancies will have a longer lead-in period than new tenancies, giving landlords time to bring older stock up to standard before enforcement begins. The exact dates will be confirmed in regulations, so landlords should monitor GOV.UK and NRLA updates rather than relying on rumour.
The practical planning window is now. Surveyors and contractors have waiting lists, and landlords with pre-1990 stock should expect that kitchens, bathrooms, heating systems and insulation are the areas most likely to need investment.
Enforcement powers local authorities will use
Local authorities already have powers under the Housing Act 2004 to inspect rented homes and serve improvement notices where HHSRS hazards exist. The Renters' Rights Bill adds a specific duty to enforce the Decent Homes Standard in the private sector, with these mechanisms:
- Improvement notices requiring specified works within a set period.
- Civil penalties of up to £5,000 for breach of an improvement notice, with the government consulting on higher penalties for repeated non-compliance.
- Prohibition orders restricting the use of a property where hazards are severe.
- Emergency remedial action where a Category 1 hazard poses an immediate risk.
Enforcement will be complaint-led in most cases. A tenant who reports disrepair to the council triggers an inspection, and the authority can then require works across the whole property, not just the reported issue. Landlords should also note that the Bill's database of rented properties, which all landlords in England will have to register on, will give councils a complete list of addresses to target.
How the standard interacts with existing obligations
Several current duties overlap with the Decent Homes Standard, and meeting one does not automatically meet the others:
- The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 lets tenants sue for disrepair; the Decent Homes Standard adds regulatory enforcement on top.
- EPC minimum standards require band E as a floor, while thermal comfort under the Decent Homes Standard is assessed differently and may require works even where the EPC passes.
- HMO licence conditions cover management standards but not all four Decent Homes criteria.
- Electrical safety checks under the Electrical Safety Standards Regulations 2020 and annual gas safety checks feed into the state-of-repair criterion.
A landlord who has an EPC rating of D, valid gas and electrical certificates and no outstanding disrepair claims may still fail Criterion C if the kitchen predates 2005 and shows wear. A condition survey against all four criteria is the only reliable check.
Using inventories and inspection records to evidence compliance
When a local authority inspects, the landlord's own records shape the outcome. A detailed, dated inventory at the start of each tenancy, with photographs of the kitchen, bathroom, heating system, windows and roof-line, establishes the age and condition of key components. Follow-up inspection reports every six to twelve months show that condition has been maintained and that reported issues were addressed.
Manual paperwork fails here. Photographs scattered across a phone, a Word document from 2019 and no record of the boiler's installation date will not persuade an environmental health officer. A structured system that timestamps every inspection, links photographs to specific rooms and components, and tracks the age of each key item gives landlords a defensible compliance file. Many landlords and agents now use property inventory software to produce consistent, time-stamped reports that can be exported directly to a council or contractor.
Records that matter most for Decent Homes evidence include:
- Installation dates or estimated ages of kitchen, bathroom, boiler, windows and electrics.
- Photographic condition reports at tenancy start, mid-term and end.
- Contractor invoices and certificates for works completed, including insulation and heating upgrades.
- A log of tenant-reported repairs with response dates, which demonstrates the landlord is not in breach of the fitness standard.
A practical preparation checklist
Landlords can start now, before the regulations are finalised:
- Walk each property against the four criteria and note anything over 20 years old.
- Commission an HHSRS-style condition survey on pre-1990 stock to identify Category 1 hazards early.
- Check loft insulation depth; 270mm is the current recommended minimum under Criterion D.
- Budget for kitchen and bathroom replacements where units or sanitaryware are failing, even if functional.
- Digitise inventories and inspection records so evidence is retrievable on demand.
- Join the NRLA or ARLA Propertymark for guidance updates as the regulations are laid before Parliament.
Agents managing portfolios on behalf of landlords should brief clients now, because the cost of bringing a marginal property up to standard can exceed a year's rent and landlords need lead time to plan the spend.
Book a demo
Compliance under the Decent Homes Standard will rest on evidence, and evidence starts with a proper inventory. Our property inventory platform produces time-stamped, photo-linked condition reports for every tenancy, tracks component ages across your portfolio and exports compliance files in seconds. Book a demo today and see how much time a structured inventory system saves when the inspector calls.