Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 18
18
Accepted
Require the Landlord Ombudsman to consider complaints regarding landlord refusal of accessibility adaptations.
Recommendation
It is unacceptable that any landlords should refuse disabled tenants permission for reasonable accessibility adaptations, especially where these adaptations have been approved as part of a DFG application. The Government must continue its work with landlord associations and housing associations across England to issue DFG guidance to landlords, to reduce instances of refusal of accessibility adaptations. Once the Renters (Reform) Bill comes into force, the new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman must consider all complaints involving a landlord’s refusal to grant permission for accessibility adaptations, and must ensure that this service is properly communicated to disabled people. This would empower disabled people with greater access to redress without the need to go to court, thereby reducing the pressure on the justice system and the costs to the residents. (Paragraph 73) Disabled people in the housing sector 33
Government Response Summary
The government will explore further changes, highlight how the Renters' Rights Bill will empower tenants and introduce an Ombudsman to consider complaints about refusal of adaptations, and ensure the Ombudsman's service and communications meet the needs of disabled tenants. They also point to existing guidance from the NRLA and in government 'How to' guides.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
36. The department will continue to explore potential further changes to help support disabled people living in the PRS to access home adaptations. 37. Provisions in the Equality Act 2010 mean that a landlord cannot unreasonably refuse a request for reasonable adjustments. Measures in this government’s Renters’ Rights Bill will improve the situation for disabled renters who request home adaptations. The abolition of section 21 will remove the threat of retaliatory eviction, empowering tenants to request the home adaptations that they need and to complain if their requests are unreasonably refused. 38. The government’s Renters’ Rights Bill will also introduce a new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman that will provide quick, fair, impartial and binding resolution for tenants’ complaints about their landlord. This will bring tenant-landlord complaint resolution on par with established redress practices for tenants in social housing and consumers of property agent services. 39. The Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman will have broad powers to put things right for tenants where it is determined that their landlord should have done something differently when an issue was first raised with them. All cases will be considered on their own merits, and nothing will prevent fair and reasonable complaints about accessibility adaptations from being escalated, contingent on the complaint being made within the scheme rules. The government is designing the Ombudsman service with all users in mind, as required by the Government Service Standard, and will ensure that any communications strategy adequately meets the needs of disabled tenants. 40. The National Residential Landlords Association has published guidance in 2022 for landlords on making home adaptations available to those tenants who need them. https://www.nrla.org.uk/resources/looking-after-your-property/adaptations. Information for landlords on reasonable adjustments and home adaptations is also provided in the How to Rent guide here: How to rent - GOV.UK. Additionally, information for tenants on reasonable adjustments and home adaptations is provided in the How to Let guide here: How to let - GOV.UK.