Private Rented Sector Housing Conditions
Case reference FOI2026/02303
Received 24 September 2026
Published 21 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.
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.
Answer: We do not differentiate between social housing landlords and private rented landlords when recording information for the purpose of data analysis. As a result, I am unable to identify from the data provided how many complaints or service requests received by the Council related specifically to private rented properties and how many related to social housing.
The figures below therefore represent the total number of complaints and service requests received.
2021 – 650
2022 – 596
2023 – 550
2024 – 412
2025 – 373
2) A breakdown of these complaints or service requests by the council's existing recorded category or issue type, where this information is held.
Answer:
2021
Disrepair - 5
Overcrowding - 0
Housing Hazards - 78
Harassment/illegal eviction - 8
Request for advice/information – 197
Other – 362
2022
Disrepair - 3
Overcrowding - 3
Housing Hazards - 88
Harassment/illegal eviction - 7
Request for advice/information – 199
Other – 296
2023
Disrepair - 5
Overcrowding - 2
Housing Hazards - 74
Harassment/illegal eviction - 10
Request for advice/information – 199
Other – 260
2024
Disrepair - 7
Overcrowding - 3
Housing Hazards - 105
Harassment/illegal eviction - 10
Request for advice/information – 118
Other – 169
2025
Disrepair - 6
Overcrowding - 2
Housing Hazards - 72
Harassment/illegal eviction - 8
Request for advice/information – 86
Other - 199
3) The total number of inspections, assessments or visits carried out by the council relating to the condition of privately rented residential properties.
Answer: We do not differentiate between social housing landlords and private rented landlords when recording information for the purpose of data analysis. As a result, The service are is unable to identify from the data provided how many inspections, assessments or visits were carried out by the Council related specifically to private rented properties and how many related to social housing.
The figures below therefore represent the total number of inspections, assessments or visits carried out by the council relating to the condition of privately rented residential properties and social housing landlords.
2021 - 38
2022 - 66
2023 - 66
2024 - 73
2025 - 73
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.
Answer: This information is not held.
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.