More regulation for private housing proposed

The Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) should have its remit extended so private sector tenants can easily air their complaints.

Housing ombudsman Dr Mike Biles, speaking in an interview with Environmental Health News magazine, said that retaliatory evictions were a "huge evil" which should not stop tenants complaining when they are poorly treated by their landlord.

Dr Biles explained that some landlords found excuses to evict tenants if they complained about the quality of the property and letting the HOS regulate the area would help stamp out this practise.

He said to the magazine: "[Extending the HOS' remit] would bring consistency of standards across the rented sector.

"It would also enfranchise the private sector tenant in the sense that they would have a route to alternative justice, which is presently denied them."

In addition, Dr Biles said that public housing complaints - currently handled by the Local Government Ombudsman - should be handed over to the HOS.

Last month, the Citizens Advice Bureau said that one million people living in poor quality rented housing fear that their landlord will evict them unfairly.

Chief executive of Citizens Advice, David Harker, said: "Everyone should have the right to live in a safe and decent home, and a change in the law would end the misery endured by many vulnerable people who are too afraid to complain."