Bad landlords can be sued for making tenants lives hell in bill backed by Parliament

MPs have backed a plan to give tenants the right to sue rogue landlords.

The new rights bill, requiring homes in the private and social rented sector to be fit for human habitation, was passed by the House of Commons.

Housing minister Heather Wheeler said the legislation would put bad landlords on notice to clean up their act.

They should ‘improve their properties or leave the business’, she said.

The legislation was introduced as a private members’ bill by Labour’s Karen Buck.

She said the bill was designed to protect the most vulnerable, living in the worst conditions.

‘Living in a cold, damp, or unsafe home is hell. It damages people’s physical and mental well-being,’ she said.

‘It erodes the income of the poorest households. It impacts on children’s education.

‘The most vulnerable tenants are those most at risk of being trapped in sub-standard accommodation and they are often least able to withstand the damage such conditions do.’

On Friday, it passed its third reading stage in the Commons.

Some MPs had expressed concerns that by raising minimum standards it could reduce the number of houses which become available for rent.

However, Conservative MP Kevin Foster said this was not the case.

‘What I would say is that if you are renting out a property which is unfit for human habitation, then really you shouldn’t be in the business of being a landlord,’ he said.

Earlier this year, MPs said the worst landlords should have their properties confiscated if they made their tenants’ lives hell by unfairly increasing rent or threatening eviction.

It has also been claimed that up to a third of all millennials will rent for their entire life because the housing market was so expensive and out of reach for thousands.