The Decent Homes Standard: What Landlords and Investors Need to Know

The Decent Homes Standard is a government standard that social landlords in England must meet under the Regulator of Social Housing's rules. However, the Renters' Rights Act now provides for this standard to be applied to the private rented sector or PRS, with the government setting a start date of 2035.

Article updated: November 2026

What Is the Decent Homes Standard?

The Decent Homes Standard applies in England and currently only applies to the social rented housing sector (including council housing), with some minor exceptions.
The concept behind the Decent Homes Standard is that everyone deserves the right to live in a safe and secure home.

When it was introduced in 2001 the then government was concerned that the quality of social housing was variable, and also that there was no common standard for housing providers to operate to. The Decent Homes Standard was introduced to both regulate and improve the standard of social housing.

The government says that the Decent Homes Standard has contributed to the raising of standards in the sector of social housing. It says that the proportion of social properties that do not meet the standard reduced from 39% in 2001 to just 13% in 2020.

Homes which do not meet the Decent Homes Standard may be known as non-decent homes.

The Decent Homes Standard in the Private Rented Sector

The Decent Homes Standard is on its way to the private rented sector (PRS). After two white papers and a consultation, the Renters' Rights Act, passed in October 2025, says the standard will apply there for the first time.

Does the Decent Homes Standard Apply to Private Rentals?

Not yet. Private rentals have their own rules on property standards today, such as the Domestic Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) Regulations.

The government's Levelling Up The United Kingdom white paper set out an ambition to reduce the number of substandard homes across all rented sectors by half by 2030. In 2022 the government published another white paper, A Fairer Private Rented Sector. This outlined an intention to make the Decent Homes Standard legally binding across the private rented sector in England.

Consultation

In 2022, the government asked for views on applying the Decent Homes Standard to private rented homes in England.

The Renters Reform Bill

In 2023 the government published the Renters (Reform) Bill, which committed to introducing the Decent Homes Standard in the PRS. That Bill fell in 2024, but the commitment carried into the Renters' Rights Act, which passed in October 2025 and states a Decent Homes Standard will be applied to the private rented sector for the first time.

The government's policy statement sets one new standard for social and private rented homes.

What Does the Decent Homes Standard Cover?

Under the current version of the Decent Homes Standard a decent home is one which meets the following four criteria:

Criterion A: It Meets the Current Statutory Minimum Standard for Housing

A home meets Criterion A only if it has no serious hazards, known as Category 1 hazards. Housing standards are assessed and hazards are categorised under what is known as the Housing Health and Safety Rating System or HHSRS.

Criterion B: It Is In a Reasonable State of Repair

Criterion B looks at building components that are both old and in need of replacement or major repair. "Building components" is a technical term for things such as roofs and walls, doors and windows. Key building components are those things that have an impact on the integrity of the building. Other building components include kitchens, bathrooms and the pipes and radiators of the central heating.

A home fails this criterion if one or more key building components are old and, because of their condition, need replacing or major repair. It also fails if the same is true of two or more other building components.

Criterion C: It Has Reasonably Modern Facilities and Services

Properties which fail to meet this standard are those which lack three or more of:

• A reasonably modern kitchen (20 years old or less).
• A kitchen with adequate space and layout.
• A reasonably modern bathroom (30 years old or less).
• An appropriately located bathroom and WC.
• Adequate insulation against external noise.
• Adequate size and layout of common areas for blocks of flats.

Under the 2022 consultation proposal, the 'modernness' or age of the facilities and services would not be considered; they would simply need to be reasonable. The final 2026 policy statement lists four facilities. These are a kitchen with enough space and a workable layout, a suitably placed bathroom and toilet, insulation from outside noise, and suitable shared entrance areas for blocks of flats. Flats need at least three of the four. Houses need at least two of the first three.

Criterion D: It Provides a Reasonable Degree of Thermal Comfort

This criterion requires properties to have both effective insulation and efficient heating. This looks at the type of heating system and whether it keeps the property adequately warm.

Private rentals already have minimum energy efficiency rules under MEES.

A home can pass criteria B, C and D but still fail Criterion A if it has a Category 1 hazard.

How the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) Works

The Housing Health and Safety Rating System, known as the HHSRS, is a risk assessment tool that local authority officers use to assess and categorise hazards in housing in all sectors. It was introduced in 2006, replacing the previous Housing Fitness Standard.

Under the Housing Act 2004, councils must take action when they find a Category 1 hazard. Councils use the Housing Health and Safety Rating System or HHSRS to assess what hazards exist. The government's landlord and agent guide to the HHSRS applies to England. It says the number of hazards has been reduced from 29 to 21. Several hazards have been merged, in areas including falls, fire safety, electrical safety, security, dampness and cold. The assessor scores how likely someone is to be harmed and how serious that harm could be, and those scores go into a formula to produce a hazard score.

The Housing Health and Safety Rating System assessment categorises hazards as either Category 1 or Category 2.

• Category 1 hazards are those with a hazard score of 1,000 or more, which the guide places in its High Band. Under the guide, emergency remedial action is reserved for a Category 1 hazard that presents an imminent risk of serious harm to the health or safety of the occupiers.
• Category 2 hazards are those scoring below 1,000, which the guide places in its Low Band (100 or below) and Medium Band (above 100 but below 1,000).

The Housing Health and Safety Rating System has itself been reviewed. The government's landlord and agent guide was first published in June 2026 and updated in September 2026. It says the system was updated to make it more accessible, and the assessment bands were revised.

How Is the Decent Homes Standard Enforced?

The Regulator of Social Housing oversees whether social landlords meet the Decent Homes Standard. The HHSRS guide says councils can inspect rented homes for hazards after a complaint or during a planned inspection programme.

Local councils can take a range of actions as a result of this where necessary. They can issue hazard awareness notices and improvement notices. They can take emergency remedial action in some cases. Councils can fine or prosecute other landlords, but cannot take enforcement action against themselves for homes they own.

Under the HHSRS landlord and agent guide, councils must act in the case of Category 1 hazards. They can opt whether or not to take action for Category 2 hazards.

When Will the Decent Homes Standard Apply To the Private Rented Sector?

The new standard will apply to the private rented sector from 2035. The government's policy statement sets an earlier date, 1 October 2030, for private rentals to reach EPC C or have a valid exemption. The same statement, published on 28 January 2026, sets out five criteria covering dangerous hazards, state of repair, core facilities and services, thermal comfort, and freedom from damp and mould. The commitment itself is in legislation: the Renters' Rights Act provides for applying the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector, as a later phase of the reforms that began on 1 May 2026.

What It Could Mean for Private Landlords and Investors

Private landlords do not yet have to meet the Decent Homes Standard. It will apply to them from 2035. Landlords will need to ensure their properties are compliant with the Decent Homes Standard.

Alongside it, the Renters' Rights Act introduces a new landlord registry, the Private Rented Sector Database. Private landlords in England with assured or regulated tenancies will be legally required to register themselves and their properties on it, as part of the same package of reforms.

The government's policy statement names local councils as the enforcers of the new standard in private rentals. They will be able to inspect properties, issue necessary notices and take action against private landlords if their properties do not meet the standard.

Private rentals already have housing standards. These include the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 and the Housing and Planning Act 2016 which introduced more enforcement tools for councils. The new standard adds a separate test for damp and mould.

Will Landlords Need to Upgrade Their Homes?

The government's 2026 impact assessment estimates that 48% of privately rented homes would fail the new standard, using 2023 survey data. The 2022 consultation put the share failing the existing standard at 21% in 2020, down from 37.2% in 2010. The figures use different versions of the standard and different years.

For a landlord, the work to meet the new standard is another cost to set against the rent, and one more thing to count when asking is buy-to-let still worth it.

The government's policy statement says the new standard will apply from 2035. It also says councils will take account of physical features or planning rules that stop a home meeting some parts of the standard when deciding whether to take action.

A home's condition can affect what a privately let investment property is worth. Property investors weigh up a home's condition when they look at buy to let property for sale. Condition is also central to how below market value properties get priced before refurbishment.

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