The next government needs to take urgent action on workers’ and renters’ rights - but it also needs to enforce them better

There’s increasing recognition that rights are only as good as the ability to enforce them

People need to feel secure in their jobs and in their homes. People rate ‘a secure income’ as importantly as they rate ‘level of income’ when looking for a job. More than 2 in 5 tenants say fear of eviction prevents them talking to their landlord about disrepair.

Problems at work and home are some of the most common issues our advisors see. Over 150,000 people come to us with an employment problem each year. And over 200,000 seek our support on a housing issue — 30% coming from the private rental sector alone, which now houses a record 4.5 million households. And rightly both are firmly at the heart of the political debate in this general election.

Our evidence tells us there are 2 ways in particular that the next government should extend workers’ and renters’ rights. Firstly, crack down on employers falsely treating workers as self-employed. We estimate up to 460,000 workers could be falsely self-employed, meaning they lose out on crucial benefits like holiday and sick pay. Secondly, abolish no-fault evictions — where landlords can evict tenants for no good reason. Renters can live in fear of raising issues with their landlord — we’ve found that if they formally complain about issues like damp or mould, they have an almost 50% chance of being issued an eviction notice.

But rights are only as good as the ability to enforce them

But extending rights won’t be enough to give people the security they need, because existing rights too often aren’t actually enforced. That means that the next government will need a plan to translate what looks good in a manifesto into real change for people’s lives.

Take two examples from employment. Workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks off work a year — but 1.9 million workers miss out on holiday pay every year.

The minimum wage has increased in recent years. But 439,000 people were paid less than their hourly minimum wage last year — meaning 1 in 4 workers weren’t receiving the pay they’re entitled to.

Currently, the system for enforcing these rights is patchy and difficult for people to understand. There are 7 different routes for enforcement, involving local and national government, creating a confusing landscape for workers to navigate. Not all workers’ rights are even covered by a government body.

We’ve been calling for a single enforcement body that has the responsibilities and powers to protect all workers’ rights for 20 years. It’s very welcome to see this included in manifestos and, whoever wins the election, it’s critical that this is implemented quickly.

Housing rights need enforcing too

The same story is true in the private rental sector, where tenants routinely don’t have the standards they’re legally entitled to — 60% of renters have experienced disrepair that their landlord was responsible for fixing. And landlords aren’t meeting other legal obligations either:

Ending no-fault evictions will go some way to addressing this problem, helping give renters the confidence that they won’t lose the roof over their head if they complain.

And part of the problem is that regulation is confusing and complex — rules can differ between local authorities, for example. 1 in 3 landlords find it difficult to keep up with regulations and 9 in 10 tenants don’t know whether a responsibility is theirs or their landlord’s.

But it’s also clear enforcement isn’t working. Currently, all enforcement relies on proactive tenants reporting breaches of their rights. But tenants often don’t do this — 13% of tenants who experience disrepair didn’t report it to their landlord; and only 13% of those who pursued formal action had their problem fully resolved.

We think the solution here looks similar to enforcing employment rights: just as political parties have accepted the case for a single enforcement body, there’s a very strong case for establishing a national housing body. This body would be responsible for setting nationally consistent standards, supporting landlords to understand their responsibilities, and ensuring that rules are proactively enforced.

This isn’t a tenants versus landlords issue either — 75% of landlords agree a single national housing body would make their job easier.

For both workers and renters, there’s long been a power imbalance. We know people often don’t raise issues because they’re afraid for their job or their home — or they simply don’t know the best route forward. Addressing this requires extending their rights — but the next government also needs to champion their interests by making sure these rights are enforced.