Legally binding standards to be placed on military homes under renting reforms

Armed forces personnel and their families will benefit from greater housing protections following changes made to the Renters’ Rights Bill.

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook said the legislation will “help ensure service personnel and their families have the quality of homes they deserve”.

Plans to bring military homes within the scope of the new decent homes standard requirements were supported by MPs on Wednesday.

Calls for Ministry of Defence accommodation to be protected by legally binding standards had been made by the Liberal Democrats, with previous bids by peers rejected by the Government.

Despite claiming these proposals would be “unworkable due to access and security constraints”, the Government put forward its own amendments in lieu, which were nodded through by MPs.

Liberal Democrat housing spokesman Gideon Amos said he was “glad” the Government had listened to service families who are currently being “forced to live in damp, mouldy accommodation declared unfit for human habitation”.

Mr Pennycook told the Commons: “The Government has been clear throughout the passage of the Bill that our armed service personnel and their families must live in safe and decent homes. We remain determined to improve the standard of service family accommodation across the entire defence estate.

“Alongside the commitment to drive-up standards through a record investment of £1.5 billion in service family accommodation over the next five years, the Government will also soon publish a Defence Housing Strategy setting out clear renewal standards and further steps to improve the lives of those who serve our country.

“And that is a standard that will be published, able for service families to see, to judge against, and will interact with this new statutory duty.”

Shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly voiced his party’s support for the amendments, adding “armed forces and their families deserve and need decent, well-maintained homes and greater transparency”.

However, Sir James raised concerns about the impact the Bill as a whole will have on landlords and tenants.

The major revamp of the private letting market will abolish no-fault evictions and replace fixed-term tenancies with periodic or rolling agreements with no end date.

It also aims to stop bidding wars for tenancies and help residents challenge unreasonable rent increases.

“The Bill in its current form will, in some areas, be I fear counterproductive and drive landlords from the market, as well as putting up rents for tenants,” Sir James said.

The final draft of the Bill will become law once it is granted royal assent.

Mr Pennycook said: “We will balance the need to act quickly so that tenants can soon benefit from the new rights and protections the Bill introduces, whilst also ensuring the sector has sufficient time to adjust and prepare for what is a significant change in regulation.

“The Government understands the need for certainty, and we will set out our implementation plans as soon as possible.”