The latest English Housing Survey 2020-21 report on the private rental sector shows most tenants are happy with their landlords.
The results, published by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, on July 7, show:

• The private rental sector consists of 4.4m households, equating to 19% of all households in England. This larger than the social rented sector at 17%;
• Four fifths (80%) of private renters are satisfied with their current accommodation. In the social housing sector the figure is 75%;
• Nearly two thirds (63%) of private renters are ‘satisfied with their tenure’. The social housing figure is 79%;
• Only 772,000 private rented households, or 17% of private tenants, have considered making a complaint to their landlord or letting agency and over three quarters (77%) of those actually did make such a complaint;
• The most common reasons for not making a complaint were concerns over retaliation by the landlord (15%), concern that tenancies wouldn’t be renewed (14%) and the time and hassle it takes to complain (13%);
• In 2020 (the year of the survey) 23% of occupied homes in the private rented sector did not meet the Decent Homes Standard (DHS). This is higher than the proportion of owner occupied (14%) and social rented homes (11%);
• Most private tenants (73%) said they left their last tenancy because they wanted to move with only 10% saying their tenancy ended because it was only for a fixed period. Only 6% said they left because their landlord or agent asked them to leave.
• Of those who were evicted, the main reasons were because the landlord wanted to use or sell the property (63%).
• The private rented sector remains the tenure where homes are most likely to fail the Decent Homes Standard (DHS). The report suggests approximately 970,000 homes in the private rented sector (23% of the stock) would likely not meet the DHS.

Sheldon Bosley Knight’s head of lettings, Carolyn Arnold said: “Tenant satisfaction is something we and our landlords take very seriously. It is so important to maintain good relations and thankfully by keeping open and honest dialogue, our tenants prove to be respectful and reliable.
“It is great to see this report backing our experiences and showing most tenants are happy with their landlords.
“All too often we hear negative stories about the private rented sector so this is good news and hopefully will encourage landlords to stay within the sector.”