Bill will give people right to decent flat

A MILLION UK homes unfit to live in means some three million people, including many children, live in rented properties that present a serious risk to their health and safety.

Yet landlords have no obligation to make houses and flats fit for tenants.

Some problems are covered if they are caused by disrepair but that does not include things like fire safety, inadequate heating, or poor ventilation leading to condensation and mould.

Private tenants can complain to the council but increasingly cash-strapped authorities are only doing this in a minority of cases. It is a postcode lottery.

COMPENSATION

Council tenants don’t even have this channel open to them.

People are living in homes where they have to fight a constant battle to stay healthy, to stop their clothes and furniture from being destroyed.

I have seen properties where the toilet or the shower are just cabinets in the kitchen. Blackened walls where the damp makes it hard to breathe. Steep staircases without rails to stop people falling.

My Bill means that a tenant in unfit housing could take action against the landlord to make them put problems right and seek compensation for failings.

Everyone should have the right to a safe and decent home.

This Bill is a step towards making that a reality.