Fitness for Human Habitation

The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 amends the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to imply into almost all residential tenancy agreements (including social housing) a term that the property is fit for human habitation at the start of and throughout the tenancy. A property may be unfit if it has serious damp or mould, structural instability, inadequate heating, drainage problems, a risk of falling, contaminated water, excessive cold, fire hazards, or pest infestation. Landlords are in breach as soon as they are notified of the problem and fail to remedy it within a reasonable time. Tenants can bring a civil claim in the county court for damages (compensation for inconvenience, damage to belongings, and personal injury) without proving negligence. The Act applies to tenancies in England granted on or after 20 March 2019 (and social housing from 20 March 2020 for pre-existing tenancies). Legal aid is available for disrepair and fitness claims where the tenant meets the financial eligibility criteria.

What it means in practice. The fitness duty reaches problems the old repairing covenant could not. A repair claim generally needs something to have deteriorated from a previous condition, which is why tenants living in homes that were cold, damp, or badly ventilated from the day they moved in so often got nowhere. Fitness asks a different question: is this home, as it stands, reasonably suitable for occupation? A property that was never fit is caught just as much as one that has fallen into disrepair.

A worked example. Amina rents a ground-floor flat with single glazing, no extractor fans, and a boiler that cannot heat the bedrooms above 14 degrees in winter. Black mould spreads across two walls. Nothing has broken, so a pure disrepair claim is weak. Under the fitness duty, however, excess cold, damp, and mould growth all point to the property being unfit. She reports it in writing, photographs each room with dates, keeps her heating bills, and sees her GP about her child's cough. When nothing is done she claims in the county court for an order that the works be carried out and for damages.

Common pitfalls. Blaming the tenant for "lifestyle" is the standard landlord response to mould, and it is not an answer where the underlying cause is inadequate ventilation, insulation, or heating. Tenants also weaken good claims by reporting verbally, so always put it in writing. And the duty does not cover damage the tenant caused, problems with the tenant's own belongings, or matters outside the landlord's control such as a neighbour's property.

How it relates to other terms. The fitness duty runs in parallel with the repairing obligation described under disrepair, and the same facts often support both. Council enforcement of hazards goes through the HHSRS, and social landlords face fixed timescales for damp and mould under Awaab's Law. Where the property is also unlicensed, a Rent Repayment Order may be available at the same time.

What to do next. Report the problem in writing and start a dated photographic record, then follow our housing disrepair guide. If damp or mould is the issue, read mould and damp for how to rebut a lifestyle argument, and landlord repair responsibilities to confirm what your landlord must fix.