“As a renter, you never truly feel at home”

To level up the private rented sector, tenants’ voices need to be at the forefront of government reform. Here, our Tenants Voice panel shares the realities of renting today, and what needs to change in the Renters’ Reform Bill.

This is a member of our Tenants Voice Panel — speaking about the unfairness of a private rented sector that fails to ensure safe homes and accountable landlords. Their words reflect a broken system.

At Citizens Advice, we see the widespread impact of this every day. Our frontline advisers supported 85,000 people with private rented sector issues — like addressing home repairs and maintenance (26% of cases), or their landlord wanting to repossess their home (11%).

And there aren’t many places our advisers can point people to for help. There’s no watchdog for the private rented sector, and even where there are routes available — like going to court — many renters fear taking action in case they face retaliatory rent rises or even evictions. The system needs urgent reform.

The government agrees change is needed. They first committed to level up the private rented sector with a Better Deal for Renters in 2019. They’ve promised to reset the power balance between tenants and landlords: giving tenants more security, driving up standards in private rented homes, and making it easier to resolve problems when they arise. To deliver on this, they must press forward with their Renters’ Reform Bill — and, crucially, centre renters’ voices in its policy solutions. This is where our Tenants Voice Panel comes in.

What is the Tenants Voice Panel?

“I have joined the Tenant’s Voice Panel, as an Advocate and voice for other private renters and myself to ensure decisions made protect our rights.”

Tenants Voice Panel member

As part of our Tenants Voice project, funded by the Nationwide Foundation, we brought together a group of 9 people who live in the private rented sector to form our Tenants Voice Panel.

Between them, the panel have collectively lived in private rented homes for several decades. Some have had positive experiences; best-practice landlords, speedy and quality repairs, staying in the same family home long-term. But between them, they’ve also experienced virtually all the issues with the private rented sector that the government is setting out to address.

The panel are sharing their lived experiences with us at Citizens Advice because we all want tenants’ voices to be heard in the Renters’ Reform Bill.

Why the renters joined our Tenants Voice Panel

“I’m happy that I finally found someone who shares my problems. But angry that there was people that share my problems.”

Tenants Voice Panel member

When we asked members of the Tenants Voice Panel why they decided to join, several said they appreciated having the opportunity to discuss their experiences and hear from other renters. One described the panel as a safe place where they could share without judgement and feel less alone. Others also said they felt a sense of solidarity and validation from meeting other renters who had faced similar challenges.

All the renters on our panel shared a clear sense that private renting could be unfair on tenants. This drove them to join the panel — to ensure renters’ views are heard in the government’s Renters’ Reform Bill.

What needs to change? The Tenants Voice Panel’s priorities for the Renters’ Reform Bill

“As a renter, you never truly feel at home… as you never know when your landlord could decide to evict you”

Tenants Voice Panel member

In our conversations with the panel, we started from what it feels like to live in the private rented sector as it is now. One theme came up again and again: insecurity. This is fundamentally down to a power imbalance between landlord and tenant. As one member of the panel put it:

“you’ve not got an equal partnership in this even though you’re required on a day-to-day basis, by virtue of your contract, to make sure the property stays in a good condition, you haven’t got the power equally to then say [to the landlord] ‘well you’ve not played your part in this’”

This power imbalance — entrenched by the current lack of private rented sector regulation and policies like ‘no fault’ evictions — was evident in the renters’ day-to-day experiences:

Even those with positive renting experiences spoke of these as a matter of luck — a reflection of their landlord’s individual character rather than a fair and regulated rental market.

Getting into the panel’s priorities for the Renters’ Reform Bill, we also talked about what a better and fairer private rented sector would look like and what it would mean for them and other renters:

• Home comfort and safety: “[H]ome should be safe, it should be warm. There should be expectations of the landlord to make sure that… they are doing repairs, making it safe.”
• Security: “Good stability and roots… helps people mentally.”
• Personal finances: “It helps financially as well, it helps people’s financial health, because you’re not having to cough up all the time which you do when you move.”
• Neighbourhoods and community: “investing in neighbourhoods”, “greater social cohesion”.

Where we’re at and what’s next for the panel

As well as their broader vision for the private rented sector, our conversations with the panel over the past few months have delved into the detail of government proposals. Together, we’ve covered everything from a National Landlord Register, to a disrepair redress scheme, to ‘no fault’ evictions. And the panel have taken their views directly to decision makers — sharing their experiences and what reforms would make a difference to them.

Now, we’re working to bring their insights together into a blueprint for what tenants want to see from the Renters’ Reform Bill — to make sure it’s truly a better deal for renters.

“… just because it isn’t my home I’m still paying towards somebody’s mortgage and for their future for them to have a home, so it should feel like my home because I deserve that.”

Tenants Voice Panel member