"For too long, weak enforcement has let hazards fester. Responsible landlords are held back by those who don’t play by the rules - and tenants are the ones who suffer"
- Siân Hemming-Metcalfe - Inventory Base
The Renters’ Rights Act has officially become law, granting local authorities greater power to tackle Category 1 hazards in rented homes, including HMOs. Landlords are now being urged to act after research from Inventory Base found that more than 2,300 HMOs in England currently contain a Category 1 hazard.
Category 1 hazards represent the most serious and immediate risks to health and safety in a home, according to the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). They include:
Fire risks
Severe structural damage
Excess cold
Electrical faults
Such hazards have the potential to cause death, permanent paralysis, or serious injury.
Inventory Base’s analysis of the latest government data shows that 2,334 HMOs in England contain a Category 1 hazard, representing 1.8% of the country’s total HMO stock of 131,061 properties.
Regionally, Yorkshire & Humber has the highest proportion of affected properties at 3.2%, followed by London at 2.7% and the South East at 2.1%, both above the national average.
There is some positive news. The total number of HMOs with Category 1 hazards fell by 18.8% across England between 2022/23 and 2023/24. The regions with the sharpest declines were:
South West: -64.4%
East of England: -54.8%
North West: -49.5%
Yorkshire & Humber: -29.6%
London: -11.5%
However, several areas have seen significant increases in hazardous properties:
North East: +130%
West Midlands: +70.7%
South East: +35.1%
East Midlands: +33.3%
With enforcement powers strengthened under the Renters’ Rights Act, local authorities are expected to increase scrutiny of unsafe properties. Outcomes are likely to depend on local funding and resources. Inventory Base is calling on HMO landlords to take proactive steps to inspect, document, and address potential risks before enforcement action escalates.
“Category 1 hazards aren’t technicalities - they’re life-threatening. Every faulty wire, every structural weakness, every unchecked fire risk represents a potential tragedy," explained Sián Hemming-Metcalfe, operations director at Inventory Base.
"The fact that thousands of HMOs are still unsafe shows how far we are from making rented housing genuinely fit for purpose. For too long, weak enforcement has let hazards fester. Responsible landlords are held back by those who don’t play by the rules - and tenants are the ones who suffer."
"The Renters’ Rights Act draws a line. It finally gives councils the power to act, and landlords the push to fix what’s broken. At Inventory Base, we’ve always believed prevention beats enforcement. Our platform helps landlords, agents, and local authorities identify, document, and fix hazards quickly and transparently. Technology has taken the excuses away, now it’s about who’s ready to use it.”
