The HHSRS was significantly reformed in June 2026. Here's how assessments work now, the new hazard bands, what enforcement can follow, and what it means for property professionals and local authorities.

Can housing licensing actually deliver value, or is it just about making money? A new report from Nottingham City Council claims that every £1 invested in its licensing schemes returned £4.62 — but the headline figure isn't quite what it sounds like. In this latest article we take a closer look at what the study really says, what "social value" actually means, and the questions it raises for landlords, tenants and local authorities alike. Worth a read whether you support licensing or not

The Renters' Rights Act, in three days, set to reshape the private rented sector, but one knock-on effect that's flying under the radar is the scramble within some local authorities to update their housing enforcement policies.

The proposed new Decent Homes Standard (DHS) aims to modernise housing quality requirements and extend them across both the social housing sector and the private rented sector. However, recent scrutiny from the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) has raised concerns about the impact assessment underpinning the proposals, describing parts of it as “not fit for purpose.” In this article, we explore what the RPC’s findings mean, why the impact assessment has been criticised, and what the implications could be for landlords, local authorities and housing professionals. We also look at what might happen next as the government works towards implementing a revised DHS.

In this article we will review a new report which focusses in on the problem of so-called slum landlords and, specifically, at the issues surrounding taking enforcement action against them. It looks at the difficulties slum landlord enforcement involves, as well as at some working practices which have aimed to improve the situation. It concludes by making some recommendations for improvements both to the law and to working practices in housing enforcement against these types of landlords.

While the issue of ‘bad landlords’ is something that perennially preoccupies those in the sector, a recent report has brought some new thinking to the issue. It has identified criminal landlords and their tenants as a ‘shadow’ or something of a sub-sector of the wider PRS. The report includes a look at the types of criminal landlord, why they exist, how they operate and – in a market that is on the face of it already highly regulated – how they get away with it. It provides insight into where enforcement against them is lacking and how it might be improved.

In September 2024 we wrote about Spelthorne Borough Council’s decision to apply an Article 4 direction to the conversion of houses into small HMOs. Spelthorne Borough Council’s decision to ‘go nuclear’ with Article 4 and extend their initial, recently introduced scheme out into every ward of the borough.

However the new law has brought in another, less well known but very significant change. That is the new investigatory powers that local authorities will have to investigate your business and enter your property to aid their enforcement work. These particular powers can begin to be used from 27 December 2025 so we will look at what they involve here.

A new report from the ONS and Government Statistical Service (GSS) takes a closer look at how housing statistics are compiled across the UK, focusing on the Private Rented Sector (PRS). Overall, the report provides valuable insight into the gaps and inconsistencies in UK housing data and the importance of improving the reliability of statistics used to shape housing policy and enforcement.

In a climate where selective licensing schemes are spreading like wildfire, a recent proposal in Great Yarmouth is causing more controversy than many. It is proposing a condition that landlords must inspect their properties no less than once every three months. Here we will look at the proposed scheme and at the wider issue raised: How often landlords should, or must, inspect their properties.

MHCLG launched a consultation on proposals to update the Decent Homes Standard. The current DHS a home is considered ‘decent’ if it is: Free from health and safety hazards at the most severe category 1 level as per the HHSRS. It should also be in a reasonable state of repair, have reasonably modern facilities and services and provide a reasonable degree of thermal comfort.