The private rented sector (PRS) must professionalise if it is to protect tenants and support long-term investment. But professionalism cannot be one-sided. Regulators must evolve alongside landlords if the Renters’ Rights Act (RRA) is to succeed. It’s generally agreed that the Renters’ Rights Act represents a new era for private renting in England. Politically, it’s a switch back to a kinder, more protective state, away from the neo-liberal environment that gave birth to the last defining law for the PRS, the Housing Act of 1988. The introduction of Rent Smart Wales has already shown what is possible.

But there is a problem. Era change always leads to EHOs and other housing professionals deciding to quit or to change jobs. This could lead to a deficit in skills and organisational knowledge when they will be needed most – in the years leading up to the Decent Home Standard (DHS) being applied to the PRS, in England in 2035.

Responsible private landlords and their membership bodies acknowledge the need to professionalise to meet the more stringent standards required by the new law. Professionalism has become a buzzword, defining the change that is necessary. There is a consensus that the RRA may cause ‘accidental landlords’, perhaps owning one or two houses, to leave the sector, leading to consolidation to a market characterised by larger players with more access to capital and expertise.

Surely the same should apply to enforcers. It’s still the case that many of those who work in PRS enforcement, even some heads of service, do not hold a relevant housing-specific qualification – a shortcoming on the part of the councils that employ them. This situation has become increasingly untenable.

Detailed, complex law

The 2004 Housing Act, introducing HMO licensing and the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), is now welded to the RRA in terms of enforcement; but many other acts impinging on tenants’ rights remain in place. The sheer complexity of the law relating to the PRS and its enforcement infrastructure, through courts, lower-tier tribunals and expanded civil penalties, demands a high level of knowledge and the ability to evaluate, tactically and strategically, the many options available.

Food safety benefits from strict liability laws, which can make enforcement in this area less likely to become entangled in challenge and interpretation than housing. Social housing is moving towards a strict liability model – social landlords have mandatory repair and safety obligations under the Decent Homes Standard (DHS) and Awaab's Law, which came into effect for damp and mould and emergency hazards in October 2025.

However, in the PRS, which is governed by multiple pieces of legislation, enforcement is dual in nature, governed by both standards and professionally assessed risk. Rights of entry are subject to the interpretation of different clauses of section 239 of the Housing Act 2004 – now made less clear by still untested RRA amendments to section 239.

Access to rented property based on intelligence is easiest for an experienced EHO with good knowledge of the law, effective communication skills and keen eyesight – is the hallway smoke alarm dangling off the ceiling? That often indicates wider concerns.

Once entry is gained, there are different enforcement possibilities. For the HMO, one has access to yes-or-no offences under HMO regulations; for the non-HMO, new absolute RRA offences are buttressed by the ability to serve notices under the now improved risk-based methodology of the HHSRS.

Useful tool of licensing

In the influential online arena, private landlords resistant to reform are spreading a negative message. They claim that an ‘over-regulated’, fragile PRS risks collapsing and that councils are unconcerned about tenants and will merely use the civil penalties of the RRA as a funding source. These views are travesties with little relation to reality. But they risk achieving influence through constant repetition.

Increasingly, councils are adopting selective and additional licensing, which can now be implemented without secretary of state approval, as a way to find rogue landlords and to lift standards. In London, 28 of the 32 boroughs are expected to be operating selective licensing schemes this year, and university cities such as Manchester, Salford and Reading are rolling out borough-wide additional licensing.

It's an excellent tool, allowing the PRS to be integrated into physical improvement and economic regeneration, but, in order to use it,  councils must ensure they have appropriately skilled and qualified staff. It is essential that their enforcement teams are up to date with knowledge of the law and its applications and that councils don’t lose the resources, including skilled, experienced professionals, that they have painstakingly built up over the years.

Alongside a duty to enforce, councils have been given the means to recycle income from fees and penalties into enforcement services, and plenty of training options are available, including post-professional courses such as those offered by RHE Global and new specialist degree apprenticeships. The elements are in place for the long-awaited RRA to be transformative. There should be no place for accidental enforcers.

Will Hatchett has been a journalist since 1986, specialising in local government. He was editor of Environmental Health News from 1998 until 2018. The views expressed here are purely his own.