Tenant complaints over housing standards double

COMPLAINTS from tenants about housing standards and repairs more than doubled last year, according to the annual report from housing agency Threshold.

The report, to be published today, shows that Threshold received 1,971 queries in relation to standards and repairs in 2010, up from 947 in 2009, with the bad weather and landlords carrying out repairs themselves cited as key factors.

At the report’s launch today, Threshold is expected to call for radical measures aimed to preventing homelessness, rather than reacting to the problem as it emerges, but the report also highlights serious issues experienced by many in the rental sector.