The Decent Homes Standard for private rentals.
What is the Decent Homes Standard for private rentals? Under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, a Decent Homes Standard is being extended to England's private rented sector. A decent home should be free of the most serious hazards, in a reasonable state of repair, have reasonably modern facilities, and provide a reasonable degree of thermal comfort. PropertySurvey Pro documents condition against this standard with room-by-room ratings, HHSRS-style hazard notes, EPC lookup and offline PDF reports.
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025, with its main provisions taking effect from 1 May 2026. This page explains the standard factually, then shows how PropertySurvey Pro helps surveyors, landlords and managing agents evidence a property's condition.
Document condition on-site
Download free to complete condition reports immediately on-site. For portfolios and managed housing teams, we support custom business provisioning.
Start a Condition ReportWhat the Decent Homes Standard requires
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 extends a Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector. A decent home is generally expected to meet four broad criteria. PropertySurvey Pro is built to record condition evidence against each of them:
Free of serious hazards
No Category 1 hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), such as damp and mould or excess cold. Record HHSRS-style hazard observations alongside your condition notes.
Reasonable state of repair
Key building elements should not be old and in poor condition. Log each element room-by-room with consistent condition ratings and supporting photos.
Reasonably modern facilities
Kitchens, bathrooms and other facilities should be reasonably modern and suitably located. Capture their condition and age indicators within the same survey.
Reasonable thermal comfort
Effective insulation and heating. The built-in EPC lookup pulls the registered energy rating into your report to support thermal-comfort context.
How PropertySurvey Pro documents condition
Demonstrating that a property meets the standard is an evidence task. PropertySurvey Pro captures a structured, date-stamped record you can rely on if a case is ever escalated to the landlord Ombudsman or a court:
| Decent Homes element | How PropertySurvey Pro records it |
|---|---|
| Serious hazards (HHSRS) | Structured hazard notes with EXIF-verified timestamped photos. |
| State of repair | Room-by-room condition ratings against a consistent framework. |
| Facilities | Element-level condition logging for kitchens, bathrooms and services. |
| Thermal comfort | EPC lookup pulling the registered energy rating into the report. |
| The output | Branded PDF generated on-site and offline, with no cellular reception required. |
For the damp and mould side of the new duties — where Awaab's Law introduces enforceable timeframes to investigate and fix serious hazards — our sister app DampApp Pro adds offline psychrometric and dew-point analysis. The two apps share the same offline-first, EXIF-verified evidence approach.
Part of a worldwide shift
England's Decent Homes Standard and Awaab's Law are part of a broader move toward enforceable rental housing-condition standards. New Zealand's Healthy Homes Standards already require all private rentals to meet heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture-ingress and draught-stopping requirements; other markets operate habitability and minimum-standards regimes. PropertySurvey Pro's condition documentation is used by surveyors and landlords across these markets.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Decent Homes Standard for private rentals?
The Decent Homes Standard is a baseline condition that homes must meet. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 extends a Decent Homes Standard to England's private rented sector for the first time. In practice it means a private rented home should be free of the most serious hazards, be in a reasonable state of repair, have reasonably modern facilities, and provide a reasonable degree of thermal comfort. The Act received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025, with its main provisions taking effect from 1 May 2026.
How is the Decent Homes Standard assessed?
Serious hazards are assessed using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), which grades hazards such as damp and mould, excess cold and falls. A property failing on a serious (Category 1) hazard would not meet the standard. PropertySurvey Pro lets you document condition room-by-room with consistent condition ratings and record HHSRS-style hazard observations as part of the same survey.
How does PropertySurvey Pro document condition against the standard?
PropertySurvey Pro captures a structured, date-stamped condition record: room-by-room condition ratings, HHSRS-style hazard notes, EXIF-verified timestamped photos, and an EPC lookup that pulls the registered energy rating straight into the report. You can generate a finished, branded PDF on-site and offline, giving landlords and managing agents a defensible record of the property's condition against the standard.
Does the Renters' Rights Act 2025 also affect damp and mould?
Yes. Alongside the Decent Homes Standard, the Act extends Awaab's Law to the private rented sector, introducing enforceable timeframes to investigate and fix serious hazards including damp and mould. For detailed damp and mould diagnostics, our sister app DampApp Pro provides offline psychrometric and dew-point analysis; PropertySurvey Pro focuses on overall condition, HHSRS and EPC documentation.
Can I produce condition reports offline, on-site?
Yes. PropertySurvey Pro runs natively on iOS and Android and generates its PDF reports on the device, so you can complete a full condition report on any site with no cellular reception. Your data syncs to the cloud when you are back in range.
Evidence condition against the Decent Homes Standard
Use PropertySurvey Pro to capture HHSRS-style hazards, condition ratings, EPC data and EXIF-verified photos in one offline report.
For detailed damp and mould diagnostics, DampApp Pro is available on the App Store and Google Play.