By Dr Alice Earley, Research Associate, UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence, University of Glasgow, Kenneth Gibb, Professor in Housing Economics at the University of Glasgow where he directs the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence, and Alex Marsh, Professor of Public Policy at the School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol.

This piece is a summary of a 2025 article published in the Political Quarterly, entitled The Policy and Politics of Improving Standards in the English Private Rented Sector by the above authors.

 

Introduction

The challenges regarding standards in the English PRS are well-established, including issues regarding inadequate renovation, maintenance and upgrading. Despite policy and legislation to improve standards, enforcement challenges remain. Our 2025 article argues for a need to think more expansively about the practical policy interventions that could help improve PRS standards, with the need to focus on more powerful leverage points associated with the design and intent of the system, to achieve transformative change towards a stronger culture of compliance with standards.

Read the full article from HQM here.