6,300 private rentals are 'not up to scratch'

NEW figures have found over 6,300 of privately rented homes in Plymouth are failing to meet minimum standards for safety, comfort and repair.

- By ABIGAIL NICHOLSON, DAVID DUBAS-FISHER

One in five privately rented homes in the city were classed as “non-decent” in 2023, according to the latest figures from the government's housing survey.

It includes 4,305 privately rented homes with damp, which is 6% of all private rentals in the city. People living in socially rented houses are much less likely to live in a damp or non-decent house.

Only 9% of social rents (around 2,100 homes) were classed as non-decent in 2023, less than half the rate of private rents. Damp was also less prevalent in social rents than private rents, with 4% of social homes suffering from damp in 2023.

Plymouth actually fares slightly better than England as a whole.