In August, we released our Housing Justice Network research report into the enforcement of disrepair for tenants, which has been 6 months in the making. The report has already featured in an article in monthly housing sector magazine Inside Housing.
In the report, we provide:
- A summary of renters’ rights to repairs;
- Stats and facts about the scale of disrepair in the rented sectors;
- A breakdown of why disrepair is such a hard problem for tenants to deal with due to a lack of viable and effective enforcement mechanisms, and high risks for those who report disrepair;
- Case studies from GMLC and GM Tenants Union around GM Local Authorities’ disrepair enforcement teams;
- Results and analysis of a Freedom of Information Request to all 10 GM boroughs about their handling of disrepair enforcement between 2022 and 2023;
- Recommendations for how Local Authority enforcement could be improved to help tenants get repairs done and protect their health and safety at home.
We focus on tenants in the report, but also raise the issues faced by other groups such as asylum seekers in asylum accommodation (who do not classify as ‘tenants’ and have fewer rights around disrepair in law).
You can read the full report here: Tackling Disrepair: Why Enforcement Matters