THE government must “be much more ambitious” in enforcing new rights for tenants, MPs said today, as campaigners warn renters cannot wait any longer for basic protections.

A new Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee report found that further steps are still needed to protect renters’ rights, including by introducing incentives and strengthening deterrents.

Committee chair Florence Eshalomi said recent renters’ rights reforms are welcome but “more needs to be done to ensure that the new tenants’ rights are enforceable and that landlords play by the rules.”

The government should introduce incentives for private landlords to speed up compliance with the new Decent Homes Standard before the 2035 deadline, the report said.

And too much onus remains on tenants to take action against their landlords, it said, adding that Awaab’s Law must be rolled out to the private sector this year.

The law sets out deadlines for social landlords to investigate and fix serious issues, but the committee recommended “these legal protections are fully in place across the private rented sector by the end of 2028-29.”

Generation Rent head of campaigns Nye Jones said it was “unacceptable that private renters will have to wait a decade for their homes to be brought up to a decent standard.”

He demanded the Decent Homes Standard “be brought forward to 2030 at the latest” and “implement Awaab’s Law immediately to prevent further preventable deaths for children and vulnerable people living in rented homes.”

Renters’ Reform Coalition director Clara Collingwood said: “Renters cannot afford to wait any longer for these basic protections — we agree that the government must roll out Awaab’s Law at pace, starting this year.

“A landlord who can’t (or won’t) ensure their home is safe to live in, is profiting from desperation and dangerous housing and shouldn’t be a landlord in the first place.”

The report also called for a full assessment of the resources and powers currently available to local authorities to enforce standards, which have been allocated funding to cover the costs of enforcing the Renters’ Rights Act (RRA).

The committee urged ministers to remove barriers inhibiting local authorities from using selective licensing as a tool for further enforcement on bad landlords.

Specific attention should be given to renters at the lowest end of the market, MPs added, saying that “retaliatory rent increases could act as a form of economic eviction.”