Private Rented Sector Housing Conditions
Case reference FOI2026/01558
Received 24 September 2026
Published 7 October 2026
Request
I am writing to request information relating to the condition of privately rented residential properties. Please could you provide the following information for each calendar year from 2021 to 2025 inclusive: 1) The total number of complaints or service requests received by the council relating to the condition of privately rented residential properties. 2) A breakdown of these complaints or service requests by the council's existing recorded category or issue type, where this information is held. 3) The total number of inspections, assessments or visits carried out by the council relating to the condition of privately rented residential properties. 4) A breakdown of the issues, hazards or deficiencies identified during these inspections or assessments, using the council's existing recorded categories or classifications, where this information is held. For example, where applicable, recorded issues may include damp and mould, excess cold, fire safety, electrical hazards, structural problems, disrepair, sanitation, ventilation, falls hazards or other housing-condition issues. I am interested in the council's existing records and classifications and are not asking the council to create new categories or manually review individual cases in order to classify them. If the council uses a specific housing-condition assessment or inspection framework, please provide the information according to the terminology and classifications already used by the council. We are not seeking to prescribe a particular assessment methodology. If the council does not routinely identify whether a property is privately rented within its general complaints or inspection systems, please provide the requested information where it is held within a relevant private-sector housing, environmental health, housing standards, housing enforcement or equivalent dataset. If the requested information is not held in exactly the format described, please provide the closest equivalent information already held by the council, where this can be provided without undertaking new analysis or creating a new dataset. I am requesting aggregated figures only and do not require any personally identifiable information, individual case details, addresses or information about specific landlords or tenants. Where figures for individual issue types are available, please provide the council's existing category names alongside the corresponding figures rather than grouping or recategorising them.
Response
I am writing to request information relating to the condition of privately rented residential properties.
Please could you provide the following information for each calendar year from 2021 to 2025 inclusive:
1) The total number of complaints or service requests received by the council relating to the condition of privately rented residential properties.
We do not separate out service requests into those received from housing association tenants and those received from private renters. I can provide the total number of service requests relating to housing conditions received for each calendar year from 2021 to 2025
2021 - 66
2022 - 68
2023 - 62
2024 - 87
2025 – 101
2) A breakdown of these complaints or service requests by the council's existing recorded category or issue type, where this information is held.
We do not separate out service requests into category or issue type.
3) The total number of inspections, assessments or visits carried out by the council relating to the condition of privately rented residential properties.
We do not record the total number of individual inspections, assessments or visits relating to the condition of privately rented residential properties. We undertake assessments and visits in approximately 75% of all complaints or service requests received.
4) A breakdown of the issues, hazards or deficiencies identified during these inspections or assessments, using the council's existing recorded categories or classifications, where this information is held.
|
Hazard |
2020 |
2021 |
20222 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
|
Damp and Mould |
26 |
16 |
30 |
24 |
28 |
7 |
|
Excess Cold |
3 |
4 |
15 |
13 |
11 |
4 |
|
Excess Heat |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
Asbestos |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Biocides |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
CO |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
|
Lead |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Radiation |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Uncombusted fuel gas |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
|
VOC's |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Crowding & space |
2 |
2 |
2 |
11 |
9 |
2 |
|
Entry by intruders |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
|
Lighting |
0 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
Noise |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Dom hygiene, pests & refuse |
4 |
4 |
2 |
8 |
2 |
0 |
|
Food safety |
1 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
|
Personal Hygiene, Sanitation & drainage |
4 |
3 |
8 |
13 |
14 |
4 |
|
Water Supply |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
Falls associated with baths etc |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Falling on level surfaces etc |
1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
|
Falling on stairs etc |
1 |
3 |
5 |
6 |
9 |
1 |
|
Falling between levels |
0 |
2 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
2 |
|
Electrical hazards |
7 |
4 |
11 |
16 |
10 |
4 |
|
Fire |
12 |
22 |
18 |
27 |
38 |
19 |
|
Flames and hot surfaces |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
Collision and entrapment |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
Explosions |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Position and operability of amenities |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
|
Structural collapse and falling elements |
7 |
4 |
12 |
6 |
6 |
1 |
Documents
This is Tunbridge Wells Borough Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.