Decent Homes Standard for Private Landlords: What You Need to Know

The Decent Homes Standard is being extended to the private rented sector for the first time, under the Renters' Rights Act 2025. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government confirmed in its January 2026 policy statement that every privately rented home in England must meet a modernised five-criterion standard by 2035. Around one in five private rented homes is estimated not to meet the current standard. For self-managing landlords, that is not a distant compliance exercise: the works required, and the documentation to evidence them, need to start now.

What the five criteria actually mean for your property

The new standard moves away from the age-based tests of the original 2001 framework and focuses on the actual condition of your property. To be considered decent, your home must pass all five criteria simultaneously.

Criterion A: free from the most serious hazards

Your property must be free of category 1 hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, as set out in Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004. A category 1 hazard is defined as one likely to require medical attention within 12 months if not remedied. The HHSRS assesses 29 hazard types and scores them from band A (most dangerous) to band J (lowest risk). Bands A, B and C are category 1. Anything in that range fails criterion A.

In practice this means: severe damp that has penetrated internal walls, dangerous electrics with exposed wiring or overloaded circuits, structural instability in floors, stairs or ceilings, fire safety failures such as missing smoke detectors or blocked escape routes, and extreme cold that puts an occupier at risk of hypothermia. If your gas safety certificate, EICR or most recent inspection flagged anything approaching this severity and you have not yet remedied it, criterion A is your most urgent concern.

Criterion B: reasonable state of repair

A property fails criterion B if one or more key building components is not in a reasonable state of repair, or two or more other components are not. The key building components are the elements whose failure would put the structure or habitability of the property at risk: roof, walls, windows, external doors, chimney, and the main heating and hot water system.

The focus is on condition, not age. A forty-year-old boiler that functions reliably and has been regularly serviced does not automatically fail. A boiler that was replaced five years ago but leaks and fails to heat rooms consistently does. Roof slates that are lifting, guttering that has detached and is causing water penetration, or windows that no longer seal properly would each represent a key component failure.

Criterion C: core facilities and services

For houses, the property must provide at least two of the following: a kitchen with adequate space and layout, an appropriately located bathroom and WC, and adequate external noise insulation. For flats, the threshold rises to three of the four criteria, which adds adequate size and layout of common entrance areas.

The criterion also introduces a new requirement for all properties: child-resistant window restrictors on any window that presents a fall risk for children. These must be fitted on windows above ground level that a child could reach from a standing position. This is a new obligation for most private landlords, and one that requires a physical survey of every property in your portfolio to confirm compliance.

Criterion D: thermal comfort

This criterion requires your property to provide a reasonable degree of thermal comfort, which is defined in part by the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards. Under the framework confirmed in the January 2026 policy statement, all new and existing domestic private rented properties must achieve EPC C or equivalent by 1 October 2030, unless a valid exemption has been registered.

Beyond EPC rating, the primary heating system must be capable of heating the whole home, not just two rooms, and must be programmable, meaning the tenant can control both timing and temperature. A portable electric heater supplementing an inadequate central heating system does not satisfy this criterion.

Criterion E: free of damp and mould

This is the criterion with the sharpest departure from the current legal position. A property fails criterion E if a damp and mould hazard is assessed at bands A to H of the HHSRS scoring system. Only the mildest traces of mould, bands I and J, fall outside the failure threshold.

That is a significantly lower tolerance than many landlords currently apply. A patch of mould in a bathroom corner that a landlord might previously have treated as a tenant-caused condensation issue could now constitute a criterion E failure if assessed by the local authority. From working with self-managing landlords across the UK, we see that damp and mould is the issue most likely to have been tolerated rather than resolved, often because the cause, whether structural water ingress or inadequate ventilation, is harder to fix than the visible symptoms.

When does the Decent Homes Standard apply to private landlords?

The new DHS received its statutory foundation in the Renters' Rights Act 2025, which received Royal Assent in October 2025. The Act enabled the extension of the standard to the private rented sector and gave the government powers to set and enforce the criteria through secondary legislation.

The implementation date is 2035. From that date, local housing authorities will begin active enforcement against private landlords who do not meet the standard. The government was explicit in its January 2026 policy statement that this timeline was chosen to allow landlords time to manage the other regulatory changes introduced by the Renters' Rights Act, including the ending of Section 21 evictions from 1 May 2026, the new tenancy database requirements, and the Awaab's Law provisions coming in phase 3 of the Act.

The government is equally explicit that 2035 is a deadline for compliance, not a signal to delay. Larger capital works such as roof replacement, window upgrading, or heating system overhaul require planning in some cases, access to contractors who are already under pressure from the MEES programme, and financial planning across a portfolio. Landlords who begin the process in 2033 will compete for the same contractors as those who began in 2025, at significantly higher cost and with less time to manage disruption to tenancies.

The EPC C requirement under criterion D has an earlier implementation date of 2030 for new tenancies, which effectively means the energy efficiency element of the DHS is live for practical purposes within four years.

What the 2025 consultation proposed (and what it confirmed)

The government launched its formal consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard between 2 July and 12 September 2025. It received responses from over a thousand landlords, tenants, local authorities, and industry bodies. The consultation built on the earlier 2022 exercise run by the previous government, which had proposed a separate DHS for the private rented sector. The Labour government changed the approach: rather than a distinct private sector standard, it proposed a single common standard for both social and private rented housing.

Key themes from the consultation responses shaped what the final standard looks like.

On the five versus four criteria question, the original DHS had four criteria. The 2025 consultation added criterion E, the damp and mould test, as a separate and explicit requirement. Respondents broadly supported this addition, given the high prevalence of damp and mould as a hazard in private rented stock.

On enforcement, 51% of respondents supported an extended implementation timeline, and 82% supported a grace period during which local authorities could assess against the standard without taking enforcement action. The government accepted the principle of a long lead-in, but the final framework does not introduce a formal grace period: the 2035 date is when enforcement begins.

On window restrictors, the requirement was introduced following the consultation and reflects a specific safety concern about falls from height in properties where windows are accessible to children. This was not part of the original 2022 proposals.

On leasehold properties, the consultation confirmed that enforcement notices could be served on both a landlord who holds a leasehold interest and any superior landlord where the local authority considers this appropriate. If you let a flat and the freeholder controls the building fabric, you will need to understand how criterion B repair obligations interact with your lease terms.

A practical self-assessment checklist for landlords

Before the full detailed guidance is published, which the government has committed to doing later in 2026, the criteria as confirmed in the January 2026 policy statement give you enough to run a property-by-property audit. Use the following questions as a pre-inspection framework, organised by criterion.

Criterion A: hazards

• Has the property had a gas safety check in the last twelve months, and did it pass without any advisory notices outstanding?

• Has the property had an EICR in the last five years, and were any observed or unsatisfactory items remedied within the specified remediation period?

• Is there any structural damage to the roof, floors, ceilings or staircase that has not been repaired?

• Are there working smoke alarms on every floor and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a solid fuel appliance?

• Has damp been identified in any inspection or tenant report within the last two years? If yes, was the cause identified and the source remedied, not just the surface treated?

Criterion B: state of repair

• Is the roof watertight, with no missing, slipped or cracked tiles or slates?

• Are external walls free of significant cracking, spalling brickwork, or water penetration?

• Do all windows and external doors open, close and seal properly?

• Is the guttering and drainage system intact and clear?

• Is the boiler or primary heating system under a current service contract, and has it been serviced in the last twelve months?

Criterion C: facilities and restrictors

• Does the kitchen provide adequate space for food preparation and appliance storage?

• Is the bathroom appropriately located relative to sleeping areas?

• Have you walked the property and identified every window above ground level that a child could reach from a standing position? If yes, are child-resistant restrictors fitted?

Criterion D: thermal comfort

• What is the current EPC rating? If it is D or below, do you have a plan and a timeline to reach C by 2030?

• Can the heating system heat every habitable room, not just the main living area?

• Does the heating system have a programmable thermostat or timer that the tenant controls?

Criterion E: damp and mould

• Has any tenant reported damp or mould in the last two years? If yes, was the response a structural investigation or a surface clean?

• Is there adequate ventilation in the bathroom and kitchen, either mechanical or passive?

• Is there any visible mould anywhere in the property, however minor? If yes, the cause needs to be identified before assuming it passes criterion E.

Landlords using August consistently tell us that the properties that require the most remedial work under the new standards are those where maintenance has been reactive rather than planned. A property where issues were logged, responded to promptly, and documented is significantly easier to bring into compliance than one where problems were handled informally and left no paper trail.

What happens if your property fails the standard?

From 2035, local housing authorities will have the power to enforce the DHS in the private rented sector. The enforcement mechanism integrates with the existing HHSRS framework and the Renters' Rights Act enforcement powers, as set out in Section 100 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025.

The enforcement pathway works as follows. A local authority may inspect a property in response to a tenant complaint, as part of a proactive inspection programme, or where a property is identified through the new PRS landlord database. If an inspection identifies a breach, the local authority can issue an improvement notice specifying the required works and a deadline. In serious cases, emergency remedial action can be taken by the council itself, with the costs recovered from the landlord.

The financial penalties depend on the type of breach. A Type 1 requirement failure, which corresponds broadly to a category 1 hazard or criterion A breach, can result in a civil penalty of up to £7,000 for an immediate enforcement action. Broader lettings offences under the Renters' Rights Act carry civil penalties of up to £40,000 in the most serious cases. Criminal prosecution and rent repayment orders are also available where landlords fail to comply with enforcement action.

Tenants whose properties fail the standard will also have grounds to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a rent repayment order, covering up to two years' rent in the most serious cases.

It is important to be clear about what is not yet confirmed. The detailed secondary legislation setting out the precise enforcement process, the assessment methodology for local authorities, and the guidance for tenants on how to raise a DHS complaint has not been published as of May 2026. The government committed to publishing this guidance "in due course". Do not rely on secondary sources for precise penalty figures once that guidance is live: check gov.uk for the current position.

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What to do now, even with nine years until the deadline

The case for acting before 2035 is not about being early for its own sake. It is about managing the practical reality of what the standard requires.

Start with a written audit of every property in your portfolio against the five criteria above. For most landlords with well-maintained properties, the main gap will be window restrictors and EPC rating. Both are actionable now. Window restrictor kits are inexpensive and can be fitted without specialist contractors. An EPC assessment will tell you exactly where your property sits and what improvements are needed to reach band C.

For properties that need more significant work, the EPC C deadline of 2030 should be the first milestone. Roof repairs, heating system replacement, or window upgrading are works that need contractor availability, and contractors in insulation and heating upgrades are already under pressure from the MEES compliance cycle. Getting into a contractor's schedule in 2026 costs less and disrupts tenants less than the same job in 2029.

Documentation matters as much as the works themselves. A local authority inspecting in 2035 will want evidence that a property has been maintained to standard, not just that it passes on the day of inspection. Service records, EICR certificates, gas safety certificates, inspection reports, and records of damp investigations and remediation all form the evidence base that demonstrates a property has been properly managed. August's property management tools are designed for this purpose, giving you a single place to track works, log certificates, and store inspection history across your portfolio.

The landlords who will face the most disruption in 2035 are those who treat the DHS as something to deal with when it becomes legally necessary. The landlords who will find it manageable are those who start the audit process now, address the straightforward gaps immediately, and build a programme for the larger capital items over the next four years.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Decent Homes Standard apply to my property right now?

Not yet as an enforceable standard in the private rented sector. The DHS currently applies to social housing. The extension to private rented properties is confirmed in the Renters' Rights Act 2025 and the January 2026 MHCLG policy statement, with enforcement due to begin in 2035. That said, many of the underlying requirements, such as freedom from category 1 HHSRS hazards, adequate heating, and gas and electrical safety, are already legal obligations for private landlords under existing legislation.

My property has some mould in the bathroom. Does it automatically fail criterion E?

Not automatically. Criterion E is assessed through the HHSRS damp and mould hazard score. Only a score in bands A to H constitutes a failure. Minor surface mould at bands I or J, indicating little to no risk to human health, falls outside the failure threshold. The practical difficulty is that you cannot self-assess which band your property falls into: that requires an HHSRS assessment by a qualified assessor or local authority inspector. If there is visible mould, the safest approach is to investigate the cause, fix it, and document what you did.

Will leasehold flats be treated differently?

The standard applies to the landlord responsible for the tenancy, but where the building fabric is controlled by a freeholder or superior landlord, enforcement notices can be served on both parties. This is confirmed in the Renters' Rights Act. If you let a flat and your lease restricts you from carrying out structural works, you will need to engage with the freeholder about how criterion B repair obligations will be met. Do not assume that a leasehold structure exempts you from compliance.

What if I cannot afford to bring my property up to standard?

The government has committed to publishing guidance on cost caps and exemptions before 2035, but the detail of this had not been confirmed as of May 2026. The 2025 consultation found that 40% of respondents supported cost caps. Watch for the secondary legislation and the detailed guidance when published. In the meantime, focus on the criteria that can be addressed without significant capital expenditure, and begin planning the larger works as early as possible to spread cost over the implementation period.

This article reflects the law and government guidance as of May 2026. The extension of the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector is subject to ongoing secondary legislation and guidance from MHCLG. The detailed enforcement framework, assessment methodology, and exemption provisions had not been fully confirmed at the time of writing. Check gov.uk for the latest position before making compliance decisions.