Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018
← Part of Landlord Laws & LegislationReviewed by Bradley Askew, Solicitor (non-practising), England & Wales. Reviewed 21 June 2026.
The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 amended the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to introduce a directly-enforceable statutory duty: every property let on a residential tenancy must be fit for human habitation, both at the start of the tenancy and throughout. The Act applies to every tenancy in England (with no rent threshold) and gives tenants a direct cause of action against the landlord — damages, specific performance, injunctive relief, set-off against rent. Fitness is assessed against the 29 HHSRS hazards. This page covers what the Act amended, the test for fitness, when the duty applies, the tenant remedies, the limited exceptions, and the practical compliance approach.
What the Act did
The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 amended the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to introduce a directly-enforceable statutory duty on landlords: every property let on a residential tenancy must be fit for human habitation, both at the start of the tenancy and throughout it. The Act came into force on 20 March 2019 for new tenancies (and tenancies renewed after that date), and was extended to all existing tenancies on 20 March 2020. It is one of the most consequential statutes in the residential rental framework — quietly, because it creates a tenant's direct cause of action rather than a regulatory regime, but extensively, because it can be relied on in any tenant claim against any landlord.
Before the 2018 Act, fitness for human habitation existed in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 only as a narrow obligation tied to rent thresholds set decades earlier and never updated. By the early 2010s the thresholds had been left so low by inflation that the obligation was effectively dead — virtually no modern tenancies fell within the rent levels at which the duty applied. Karen Buck MP's private members' bill, which became the 2018 Act, removed the rent thresholds and made the duty universal. Every assured tenancy is now subject to it.
The Act's practical impact has built steadily through the early 2020s. Tenant claims for damages and specific performance under the Act now run in the County Court at meaningful volume. Landlords with poor management face direct claims they would not previously have faced. The Act has also worked alongside the Awaab's Law agenda to reshape expectations about how quickly landlords should respond to disrepair — particularly for damp, mould, and other hazards with health implications. A landlord operating today needs to understand the Act in detail because any failure to maintain a fit property exposes them to direct tenant claims with no licence-fee-and-statutory-defence cushion.
What the Act amended
Section 1 of the 2018 Act inserted new sections 9A, 9B, and 9C into the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. These provisions:
- Section 9A: implies into every residential tenancy a covenant by the landlord that the dwelling is fit for human habitation at the start of the tenancy and will be kept fit throughout.
- Section 9B: sets out exceptions to the obligation — the duty does not apply where the unfitness is caused by the tenant's breach of contract, by force majeure, or by works for which the landlord cannot reasonably be expected to obtain consent.
- Section 9C: defines "fit for human habitation" by reference to the same matters considered under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) — the 29 prescribed hazards.
The Act made one further important change. The obligation under the existing section 11 of the 1985 Act (which required landlords to keep in repair the structure, exterior, and certain installations) was already an implied term that could not be contracted out of. The new sections 9A-C extended that approach: the fitness duty is implied into every tenancy, and any clause in a tenancy agreement that purports to limit or exclude it is void.
What "fit for human habitation" means
Section 9C of the amended 1985 Act sets out the test for fitness. The court must consider whether the dwelling is "so far defective in one or more of the matters mentioned in subsection (3)… that it is not reasonably suitable for occupation in that condition."
The matters in subsection (3) 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 disposal of waste water.
- Any prescribed hazard for the purposes of the HHSRS.
The HHSRS hazards — 29 specific risks set out in regulations — provide the practical content of the test. They include damp and mould growth, excess cold, fire, electrical hazards, falls hazards, sanitation, food preparation, lead, asbestos, carbon monoxide, and several others. A property with a Category 1 hazard under the HHSRS is almost certainly unfit for human habitation; a property with a Category 2 hazard may be unfit depending on severity.
Importantly, the test is not just whether the property is "habitable" in some minimal sense. The test is whether the property is "reasonably suitable for occupation" — a meaningful standard that contemplates the property being not merely usable but reasonably comfortable and safe.
When the duty applies
The duty applies:
- At the start of every tenancy. The dwelling must be fit when the tenant takes occupation. Letting a property that is unfit at the start is a breach from day one.
- Throughout the tenancy. The duty is continuing. If the property becomes unfit during the tenancy (through deterioration, new defects, or external events such as flooding), the landlord must act to restore fitness.
- From notification. The duty to remedy unfitness arises when the landlord becomes aware of the issue, or ought reasonably to have known. Constructive knowledge — what the landlord ought to have known through reasonable inspection — counts.
The landlord has a "reasonable time" to address unfitness once aware. What is reasonable depends on the nature of the defect, the risk it poses, and the practical difficulty of remediation. Awaab's Law (when extended to the PRS) will impose specific maximum timescales; for now the test is "reasonable in all the circumstances", which case law has interpreted as:
- Emergency hazards (immediate fire risk, no heating in winter, no hot water, blocked sanitation): hours to days.
- Significant hazards (severe damp, electrical issues, structural problems): days to two weeks.
- Routine repairs that affect fitness: up to four weeks.
A landlord who delays beyond these timescales without justification is in breach.
Tenant remedies
The Act gives the tenant a direct cause of action for breach of the implied fitness covenant. The remedies available to the tenant include:
Damages. Compensation for the period the property has been unfit, plus any specific losses (medical bills for tenant or family members affected by unfitness, costs of alternative accommodation, replacement of damaged belongings). Damages awards typically reflect a percentage reduction in the rent — 25% to 50% reductions are common for properties with significant unfitness, with higher percentages for severe cases or cases involving children. A tenant in a property with severe damp causing genuine health effects might be awarded damages equivalent to 60-75% of the rent for the period of unfitness.
Specific performance. A court order requiring the landlord to carry out specified works to restore fitness. Often combined with damages — past compensation plus future-looking obligation to remediate.
Injunctive relief. Where the landlord's conduct is creating ongoing unfitness, the court can issue an injunction restraining further breach.
Set-off against rent. The tenant can set damages against future rent — a self-help remedy that some tenants pursue informally and that the courts have generally accepted where the underlying breach is clear.
Importantly, claims under the 2018 Act do not require the tenant to first complain to the local authority. The tenant goes directly to the County Court. Local authority action remains available in parallel — a tenant can complain to the council and bring civil proceedings — but the civil route is independent and often faster.
Exceptions — when the duty does not apply
Section 9B sets out limited exceptions. The duty does not apply where the unfitness is caused by:
- The tenant's own breach of the tenancy. A tenant who damages the property and then complains of unfitness arising from the damage cannot rely on the 2018 Act.
- Force majeure or natural disaster. Unfitness caused by storm, flood, or similar events outside the landlord's control is not a breach of the implied covenant — though the landlord retains a continuing duty to remediate once the cause has passed.
- Lack of consent the landlord cannot reasonably obtain. Where works are needed but require consent from a third party (typically a freeholder, a planning authority, or a superior leaseholder) and the landlord has made reasonable efforts to obtain consent without success, the duty does not apply.
Each exception is narrow. The tenant's own conduct must be a substantial cause, not a minor contributing factor; force majeure must be genuinely outside the landlord's control; the consent issue must involve a third party rather than just being administratively difficult.
Practical compliance
A landlord operating professionally treats fitness as a continuous obligation rather than a one-time setup. Recommended practice:
Pre-let inspection. Before any tenant takes occupation, a thorough walk-through against the 29 HHSRS hazards. Identify and remediate any issue. Document with photographs and a written checklist.
Periodic inspections. Six-monthly inspections during every tenancy. Include a fitness assessment as part of the standard inspection. Document findings and any remedial work.
Rapid response. When tenants report issues, acknowledge within 24 hours. Investigate within days. Remediate within two weeks for routine issues and within hours-to-days for emergencies. Document everything.
Damp and mould response. Damp and mould are the most common fitness issues and the area where landlord delays produce the largest damages awards. Investigate any reported damp immediately. Where the cause is structural (rising damp, penetrating damp, condensation from defective insulation), remediate. Where the cause is occupier behaviour (poor ventilation, drying clothes indoors), still address — through ventilation upgrades, dehumidifiers, or written guidance to the tenant.
Insurance. Specialist landlord insurance with public liability cover responds to fitness-based personal injury claims.