The definitive legal guide to bad housing conditions in rented accommodation in England is written by Catherine O'Donnell of Garden Court, HHJ Jan Luba QC (formerly of Garden Court) and Giles Peaker of Anthony Gold Solicitors.
Housing Conditions: tenants' rights is newly published and now available to purchase. Previously titled Repairs: tenants’ rights, past editions have long been recognised as the essential text for all housing advisers and lawyers dealing with disrepair and other adverse conditions affecting residents in rented accommodation.
The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, which came into force in March 2019, is the biggest advance in tenants’ rights relating to housing conditions for a generation.
Initially, the Act will require all new lettings to be of homes fit for habitation, and that they be kept fit. It will further come to apply to virtually all residential tenancies whenever granted. This new edition takes a broader approach to housing conditions in the light of the new Act and this is reflected in the new title and also a significant revision and restructuring of the content.
The book is now concerned more generally with problems arising from the poor condition of much rented accommodation. It deals with fitness for human habitation and with health and safety issues going well beyond the traditional concern of lawyers and other advisers with the topic of disrepair (while still dealing with those issues).
Housing Conditions: tenants’ rights outlines what tenants can do to obtain better conditions themselves and what local councils can do to help them achieve improved conditions. It is primarily written for the assistance of the occupiers of rented housing and their advisers, but it will also be useful to landlords, letting and managing agents and to those who advise them.
Catherine O'Donnell is a member of the Garden Court Chambers Housing Team.
