More than 5,300 new households contact Threshold out of fear of homelessness

 Threshold chief executive John-Mark McCafferty: 'By proposing an NCT-style system, Threshold hopes to make a real change to the living standards of private renters.' 

More than 5,300 new households who contacted a national housing charity in recent months are threatened with homelessness, while the number of complaints about poor rental accommodation is rising sharply.

The third quarter report from Threshold said it prevented 900 households representing 1,333 adults and 939 children from becoming homeless. Threshold advisors dealt with around 10,000 queries overall.

Of the new households who contacted the charity in the third quarter, it said, some 5,318 were at risk of losing their homes and possibly homelessness. 

For the third consecutive quarter, most of these renters were at risk because their landlord wished to sell the home, Threshold said.

The organisations's chief executive John-Mark McCafferty said: "It is very worrying, if not surprising at this stage, to see that one of the main challenges facing tenants continues to be tenancy terminations and more specifically, termination as a result of landlords selling homes. 

"While our incredible team prevented over 900 households from entering homelessness, the threat — and reality — of tenancy termination continues to be a very real one for many households across the country. It shows that there is still a lot of work to be done to tackle the housing crisis.”

In relation to rental conditions, 7% of overall queries from July to September related to concerns over accommodation standards, up from 4.5% during the same three-month period last year.

The concerns often relate to the likes of dampness, inadequate ventilation, and poor insulation making it expensive to heat their home, according to Threshold.

Certificate of fitness

The housing organisation has long campaigned for a housing and rental system along the lines of the National Car Testing (NCT) service, where a car must pass tests of roadworthiness in order to be allowed to drive.

Threshold said this new system would require a landlord to provide a certificate of fitness following an inspection of the property by a registered building professional or local authority inspector to the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). 

Only then should a landlord be allowed to rent out a property, it said.

Mr McCafferty said: "It is a right of a tenant to expect the conditions in which they live to be kept to a liveable standard. By proposing an NCT-style system, Threshold hopes to make a real change to the living standards of private renters. 

"At the very least, an overhaul of the existing local authority inspections system is required in order to address massive inconsistencies of approach between local authorities and the difficulty in follow up regarding properties which fail inspections.”

Overall in the third quarter, Threshold said its frontline advisors dealt with 9,000 households on wider issues regarding their tenancy, adding up to more than 10,000 calls.