Improving Housing Conditions in the Private and Social Rented Sectors: The Homes (Fit for Human Habitation) Act 2018 ‐ Fit for Habitation but Fit for Purpose?
| Published date | 01 September 2019 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12439 |
| Date | 01 September 2019 |
| Author | Chris Bevan |
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Modern Law Review
DOI: 10.1111/1468-2230.12439
LEGISLATION
Improving Housing Conditions in the Private and
Social Rented Sectors: The Homes (Fit for Human
Habitation) Act 2018 - Fit for Habitation but Fit for
Purpose?
Chris Bevan∗
The Homes (Fit for Human Habitation) Act 2018 became law in December 2018 and entered
into force on 20 March 2019. This article examines the key provisions of this significant piece
of housing legislation which has the potential to transform the lives of those renting homes
in both the private and social sectors in England. The 2018 Act, through amendment to
the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, introduces a new obligation on landlords to ensure their
residential properties are fit for human habitation and, for the first time in this jurisdiction,
endows tenants with new civil rights to directly enforce this implied covenant against failing
landlords. This article identifies the key deficiencies within the current legal framework around
fitness for human habitation and explores how far the 2018 Act meets these challenges; set
against the febrile backdrop of an acute housing crisis and the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
INTRODUCTION
The Homes (Fit for Human Habitation) Act 2018 (H(FHH)A 2018) received
Royal Assent on 20 December 2018 and entered into force three months later
on 20 March 2019.1The H(FHH)A 2018, which extends to England and
Wales but will apply to tenancies in England only,2is that rarest of legislative
animals; a statute which is at the same time both refreshingly brief and yet
extraordinarily wide-ranging in effect. The 2018 Act carr ies with it the very
real potential to transform lives by redressing a long-standing scourge existing
in housing in England, namely the alarming number of residential homes in
both the social and private rented sectors which remain classed as non-decent
and fall below the standard of fitness for human habitation. As the Preamble
to the new statute explains, the 2018 legislation ‘amend[s] the Landlord and
Tenant Act 1985 to require that residential rented accommodation is provided
∗Associate Professor in Property Law, School of Law, The University of Nottingham.
1 H(FHH)A 2018, s 2(2).
2 H(FHH)A 2018, s 2(1). Housing is devolved to the relevant administrations in Scotland, Wales
and Northern Ireland. The Welsh government has already included similar provisions to the
H(FHH)A 2018 in relation to housing fitness in the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016.
C2019 The Author.The Moder n Law Review C2019 The Modern Law Review Limited. (2019) 82(5) MLR 897–921
The Homes (Fit for Human Habitation) Act 2018 - Fit for Habitation but Fit for Purpose?
and maintained in a state of fitness for human habitation.’ Those unfamiliar
with the current state of housing stock in England may question the need for
such a statute to ensure ‘fitness for human habitation.’ Yet, for those working
on the ground providing housing advice, in housing charities, law centres and
those researching in this area of law, the case for such legislation has long been
made out. The 2018 Act arrives at a time of acute housing crisis in England
and in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London in 2017 which has
shone a critical searchlight on the state of housing and housing inequality in
the fifth biggest economy in the world.3This article explores this timely and
significant piece of legislation; its scope and likely impact and reflects on how
far the deficiencies in the legal framework around fitness for human habitation
will or will not be addressed effectively by the provisions of the H(FHH)A and
thus whether the 2018 Act will realise its potential to re-shape the housing
landscape in England.
BACKGROUND AND IMPETUS FOR THE 2018 ACT
Entering into force on 20th March 2019, the 2018 Act is likely to be over-
looked by many commentators as much of the legal and political bandwidth
is swallowed up by debates around Brexit and the UK’s impending departure
from the European Union.4Nevertheless and putting Brexit aside, this new
housing legislation warrants close attention. The 2018 Act began life as the
Homes (Fit for Human Habitation) Bill 2017–19 and was introduced as an op-
position Private Members’ Bill into Parliament by Karen Buck, Labour MP for
Westminster North.5In offering the background to the Bill, Buck explained,
‘tenants need greater protection, and . . . whilst having a stronger voice in
decisions affecting them is vital, so too are clear, enforceable legal rights.’6Im-
portantly, the Bill was said, in part, to be a response to the tragic events of the
Grenfell Tower fire of 14 June 2017 in which 72 residents lost their lives in the
deadliest structural fire in the UK since the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster and worst
residential fire in the country since WWII.7The almost unprecedented horror
of Grenfell and the public outcry which followed the fire brought long-overdue
3 Price Waterhouse Coopers predict the UK could fall to the 7th largest economy post-Brexit:
PWC, UK Economic Outlook Report November 2018 at https://www.pwc.co.uk/economic-
services/ukeo/ukeo-nov18-final.pdf (unless otherwise stated, all URLs were last accessed on 3
May 2019).
4 The UK was set to leave the EU at 11pm on 29thMarch 2019 (so-termed ‘exit day’: European
Union (Withdrawal)Act 2018, s 20(1)) following the trigger ing of Article 50 of the Treatyof Lis-
bon, see, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:C:2007:306:TOC); exit
day has now been delayed until 31st October at the latest but the UK may leave before this if
the Withdrawal Agreement and associated legislation passes through parliament.
5 The original text of the 2017-2019 Bill is available at https://publications.parliament.
uk/pa/bills/cbill/2017-2019/0010/18010.pdf.
6 MP Karen Buck explaining the impetus for her 2017-2019 Bill writing on PoliticsHome.com,
23 August 2018 at https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/communities/housing/opinion/
house-commons/97733/karen-buck-mp-3-million-people-live-unsafe.
7 As Secretary of State for Housing, Communities & Local Government MP James Brokenshire
explained to Parliament in an Oral Statement one year after the tragedy.
898 C2019 The Author. The Modern Law Review C2019 The Modern Law Review Limited.
(2019) 82(5) MLR 897–921
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