'Tenants finally have the law on their side'

FOR years, renters across the country, with many in Stoke-on-Trent, have been forced to live at the mercy of a broken housing system. That ends now.

- Gareth Snell - MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central

Labour's new renters’ rights reforms are the most meaningful shift in power towards tenants in a generation, built on an unarguable principle: everyone deserves a safe, secure and affordable place to call home.

This package of changes isn’t cosmetic. It directly strengthens the rights of renters and gives them protections they have never had before.

For thousands of local families, it means better quality housing, with more stability, more fairness and more control over their lives.

Too many renters have felt they had no choice but to put up with damp, mould, broken heating and unsafe living conditions because speaking up risked retaliation.

Labour's reforms change that. The introduction of a legally enforceable Decent Homes Standard for private renting means every landlord must now meet clear, minimum safety and quality requirements.

For renters, this creates new rights: the right to a home that is warm, dry and structurally safe; the right to essential repairs carried out in a reasonable time; and the right to challenge poor conditions without fear of losing their home.