ABSTRACT
A number of private remedies are available to the tenant where the landlord is in breach of a repairing obligation. This chapter outlines the licensing system put in place by the Housing Act 2004 which seeks to ensure that Houses in multiple occupation are properly managed and health and safety risks thereby reduced. Since the mid-nineteenth century, public health legislation has been the mechanism by which Parliament has sought to deal with the worst effects of slum housing. Depending on the wording of the tenant’s repairing covenant, the landlord may start an action for damages for disrepair during the currency of the tenancy or after its expiry. For many years local housing authorities have had powers to deal with unfit housing. Until recently, they were under a duty to carry out periodic reviews of housing conditions in their areas in order to decide whether and what action should be taken if a property was unfit for human habitation.
