Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018

Reviewed by Bradley Askew, Solicitor (non-practising), England & Wales. Reviewed 20 July 2026.

The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 amended the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to insert a directly enforceable duty into section 9A of the 1985 Act: a dwelling let in England on a tenancy of under 7 years must be fit for human habitation both when the tenancy starts and throughout it. There is no rent threshold. If the landlord breaches the duty, the tenant can go straight to the County Court for damages and/or an order that the landlord carry out the necessary works — no need to complain to the council first. Fitness is judged against the matters in section 10 of the 1985 Act, including the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) hazards, which were reduced from 29 to 21 with effect from 23 June 2026. This guide covers what the Act changed, the fitness test, when the duty applies, tenant remedies, the exceptions, and how it interacts with the Renters' Rights Act 2025.

Recent change: HHSRS cut from 29 to 21 hazards (23 June 2026)

The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/571) came into force on 23 June 2026, amending the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (England) Regulations 2005. It reduced the number of prescribed hazards from 29 to 21 by combining hazards with statistically similar likelihood and harm, and replaced the old A–J hazard bands with three bands — High, Medium and Low (a High-band score is a Category 1 hazard; Medium or Low is Category 2). Because section 10 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 defines "prescribed hazard" by reference to whatever is currently prescribed under section 2 of the Housing Act 2004, the fitness test under the 2018 Act now runs against this 21-hazard list. Older guidance referring to "29 hazards" — including some government pages not yet updated at the time of writing — reflects the pre-June-2026 position.

What the Act did

The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 amended the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to insert a directly enforceable statutory duty on landlords of dwellings in England: the property must be fit for human habitation at the start of the tenancy and must remain fit throughout it. The Act came into force on 20 March 2019 for new tenancies (including renewals), and was extended on 20 March 2020 to periodic and secure tenancies that already existed on 20 March 2019.

Before the 2018 Act, a fitness obligation existed in section 8 of the 1985 Act only where the rent fell below very low thresholds that had not been updated for decades — by the 2010s, inflation had left almost no modern tenancy within scope. Karen Buck MP's private member's bill, which became the 2018 Act, removed the rent threshold for England and made the fitness duty universal for tenancies of the kind it covers. The government's own guidance is explicit that the Act created no new substantive obligations — it gave tenants a direct, court-enforceable route to hold landlords to standards they were largely already expected to meet.

What the Act amended

Section 1 of the 2018 Act inserted new sections 9A, 9B and 9C into the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and separately amended section 10:

• Section 9A implies into a qualifying lease of a dwelling in England a covenant by the landlord that the dwelling is fit for human habitation when the tenancy is granted (or begins, if later) and will remain fit throughout the term. It also implies a tenant covenant allowing the landlord, or someone authorised in writing, to enter and inspect — but only at reasonable times and only on at least 24 hours' written notice.
• Section 9B sets out which leases section 9A applies to (tenancies of under 7 years, and certain longer secure/assured/introductory tenancies), the commencement and transitional rules, and cross-refers to the list of leases excluded entirely under section 14 of the 1985 Act.
• Section 9C is a narrower provision extending the equivalent protection to certain agricultural workers whose accommodation is provided under their contract of employment rather than a tenancy.
• Section 10 (not section 9C, contrary to some secondary sources) was amended to add "any prescribed hazard" to the list of matters relevant to fitness, with "prescribed hazard" defined by reference to the hazards prescribed under section 2 of the Housing Act 2004 — currently the 21 HHSRS hazards.

Any clause in a tenancy agreement that purports to exclude or limit the section 9A covenant is void under section 9A(4).

What "fit for human habitation" means

Section 10 of the amended 1985 Act sets the test: the court asks whether the dwelling is "so far defective in one or more of [the listed] matters… that it is not reasonably suitable for occupation in that condition." The listed matters are:

• Repair
• Stability
• Freedom from damp
• Internal arrangement
• Natural lighting
• Ventilation
• Water supply
• Drainage and sanitary conveniences
• Facilities for preparation and cooking of food and for disposal of waste water
• Any prescribed hazard for the purposes of the HHSRS (currently 21 hazards, reduced from 29 in June 2026)

Government guidance for landlords confirms that a court does not need an HHSRS assessment to decide a case — it can and does form its own view of unfitness, including obvious cases (for example, no plumbed sanitary facilities) where expert evidence isn't required. A landlord or tenant can still commission an HHSRS assessment to evidence a Category 1 or Category 2 hazard if the case is contested.

Who and what is covered

Section 9A applies to a lease of a dwelling in England let wholly or mainly for human habitation where either:

• the lease is for a term of under 7 years, or
• the lease is a secure, assured, or introductory tenancy for a fixed term of 7 years or more (section 9B(1)(b), cross-referring to section 13 of the 1985 Act).

A fixed-term lease that the landlord can end before the 7-year mark is treated as a lease of under 7 years. The duty applies to periodic tenancies (including the assured periodic tenancies that most private tenancies became from 1 May 2026 under the Renters' Rights Act 2025 — see below) and to common parts of a building where the dwelling is part of it.

The Act does not apply to:

• Licences to occupy rather than tenancies — this can include lodgers who live with their landlord, some people in temporary accommodation, and some (not all) property guardians.
• Leases excluded under section 14 of the 1985 Act (the same exclusions that apply to the section 11 repairing covenant).
• Tenancies where the tenant is not an individual — government guidance gives examples such as local authorities, national park authorities, housing associations and educational institutions taking a tenancy for onward letting.

When the duty applies

• At the start of the tenancy. The dwelling must be fit when the tenant takes occupation (or when the lease is granted or renewed, if later).
• Throughout the tenancy. If the property becomes unfit later — through deterioration, a new defect, or an external event — the landlord must act to restore fitness once the duty has been triggered.
• From when the landlord is (or should be) aware. Government guidance states the landlord is "considered responsible from when he or she is made aware of the hazard by the tenant," and is treated as immediately liable for hazards in common parts of a block of flats or an HMO, since the landlord controls those areas directly.

There is no single statutory deadline for fixing a defect once the landlord is aware of it. The Act requires the landlord to act within "a reasonable amount of time," which depends on the circumstances — the court decides what was reasonable if the case is disputed. This is a lower bar than the fixed, legally enforceable timescales that Awaab's Law sets for social housing (and is expected, eventually, to set for the private sector too — see below).

Tenant remedies

Where the court finds a breach of the section 9A covenant, section 9A(5) allows it to order specific performance — requiring the landlord to carry out the necessary works — regardless of the usual equitable limits on that remedy. The court can also award damages to compensate the tenant for having lived in an unfit property.

Government guidance is clear that there is no fixed compensation tariff: the amount is at the judge's discretion, based on factors including how serious the unfitness was, how long it lasted, and the harm caused to the tenant. The landlord may also be ordered to pay the tenant's legal costs. Be wary of any source quoting fixed percentage-of-rent damages figures as if they were settled law — no such statutory tariff exists.

Claims under the Act do not require the tenant to complain to the local authority first; the tenant can go directly to the County Court. This runs in parallel with, not instead of, the council's own enforcement powers under the Housing Act 2004 (and, for social landlords, the Regulator of Social Housing and the Housing Ombudsman).

Exceptions — when the duty does not apply

Section 9A(2) says the landlord's covenant does not require them to:

• carry out works or repairs that are the tenant's responsibility under their duty to use the property in a tenant-like manner (or an equivalent express covenant);
• rebuild or reinstate the dwelling after destruction or damage by fire, storm, flood, or other inevitable accident;
• keep in repair anything the tenant is entitled to remove from the property;
• carry out works that would put the landlord in breach of another enactment; or
• carry out works needing a third party's consent (for example a superior landlord or freeholder) where that consent has not been obtained despite reasonable efforts.

Section 9A(3) also says the covenant doesn't impose liability where the unfitness is wholly or mainly attributable to the tenant's own breach of covenant, or to disrepair the landlord isn't obliged to remedy because of a court-authorised exclusion under section 12 of the 1985 Act.

Interaction with the Renters' Rights Act 2025

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 abolished Section 21 and converted most private tenancies in England to assured periodic tenancies from 1 May 2026. This does not change the scope of the 2018 Act's fitness duty — periodic tenancies (and the assured shorthold tenancies they replaced) were already within scope of section 9A once the transitional 12-month period from 20 March 2020 had passed, so the change of tenancy type does not create a gap in coverage.

Two further, related reforms are planned but not yet in force:

• Awaab's Law for the private rented sector. Awaab's Law — legally enforceable timescales for landlords to investigate and fix specific hazards — took effect for social housing on 27 October 2025, in phases. The government's implementation roadmap confirms it will be extended to the private rented sector in "Phase 3" of the Renters' Rights Act rollout, but the timescale is still subject to consultation and had not been set at the time of writing.
• A Decent Homes Standard for the private rented sector. The government consulted on introducing a Decent Homes Standard to private renting, provisionally proposing 2035 or 2037, and has said it is still considering consultation responses. The roadmap explicitly links this to the HHSRS review described above, describing the 2026 HHSRS changes as part of "the pathway to applying the Decent Homes Standard to the PRS."

Until Phase 3 measures are switched on, the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 — with the current 21-hazard HHSRS list — remains the main direct, tenant-enforceable route for unfit private rented housing in England.

Practical compliance

• Pre-let inspection. Check the property against the section 10 matters and the 21 HHSRS hazards before a tenant moves in, and keep a dated, photographed record.
• Respond promptly to reports. Acknowledge and investigate reported defects quickly. There's no fixed statutory deadline, but delay without good reason is what turns a repair issue into a fitness breach.
• Treat damp and mould seriously. It's a Category 1 hazard risk area under HHSRS and a frequent source of claims — investigate the cause (structural versus ventilation/occupier-related) and address it either way, since the fitness duty applies regardless of cause once the landlord is aware.
• Use the inspection right properly. Give at least 24 hours' written notice and inspect at reasonable times, as section 9A(7)-(8) requires — this protects both the tenant's quiet enjoyment and the landlord's ability to evidence condition.
• Keep insurance current. Landlord insurance with public liability cover is relevant if unfitness leads to a personal injury claim.

This is legal information, not legal advice. It explains the general law of England and Wales as at 20 July 2026 and does not take account of your specific circumstances. Reading it does not create a solicitor–client relationship. TenancyAgreementService.co.uk is not a law firm and is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. If you are facing a dispute over an unfit property, get advice on your specific situation from a regulated solicitor or a housing advice service such as Shelter.

Authoritative sources

• Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, section 1.
• Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 — as amended.
• Guide for landlords: Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018.
• Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS): Operating guidance.
• Housing Health and Safety Rating System (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/571.
• Implementing the Renters' Rights Act 2025: implementation roadmap.
• Our Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 guide.
• Our Renters' Rights Act 2025 guide.