Minimum standards a rental home must meet, by country
The statutes set the bar in words, not in a list of fixtures. Spain, Ontario and England name habitability or health and safety directly, while Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Norway tie the standard to the agreed use, a usable or well-kept home, and Sweden to what is usable by local opinion. The remedy shown also varies: rent reductions in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, repair at the landlord's cost in Spain and Sweden, and enforcement by the local authority in England.
Scope of this guide
Canada: the Canada Labour Code (federal sector) and the Ontario statutes that LawAsked has loaded. Other provinces are not compared.
| Country | Standard the home must meet | Remedy stated in the statute |
|---|---|---|
| Austria | Handed over and kept in a usable state; kept to the usual local standard with serious health hazards removed (MRG) | Tenant is freed from rent for the time and extent that the home is unusable, and cannot waive this in advance for immovables |
| Canada | A good state of repair, fit for habitation, and compliance with health, safety, housing and maintenance standards | |
| Germany | A condition suited to the use agreed in the contract, kept so during the tenancy | No rent while fitness for use is removed; a reduced rent while it is reduced (a minor reduction is ignored) |
| Spain | Conditions of habitability to serve the agreed use; repairs needed to keep them are the landlord's, without raising the rent | After written notice and fifteen days without a response, the tenant may carry out the repairs and deduct the cost from future rent |
| Netherlands | No defect that stops the home giving the enjoyment a tenant may expect of a well-maintained property of that type | Landlord must repair on request; rent reduced in proportion to the lost enjoyment; the tenant may repair a default himself and deduct reasonable cost |
| Norway | Tidied, cleaned and in ordinary good condition on handover, and fit for the purposes such homes are usually used for | |
| Sweden | Fully usable for the intended purpose according to the general opinion in the locality | For a flaw at handover the tenant may have it repaired at the landlord's cost, may end the lease if the flaw is essential, and is entitled to a reasonable rent reduction |
| United Kingdom | No category 1 hazard: a risk of harm to the health or safety of an occupier from a deficiency in the dwelling, scored under a prescribed method | The local housing authority may use improvement notices, prohibition orders and hazard awareness notices |
Country by country
Austria
- Rule
- ABGB § 1096; Mietrechtsgesetz § 3
- ABGB covers rented property generally; the MRG duty applies to homes within the MRG and is limited to what the legal, economic and technical circumstances allow.
in brauchbarem Stande zu übergeben und zu erhaltenist der Bestandnehmer für die Dauer und in dem Maße der Unbrauchbarkeit von der Entrichtung des Zinses befreit im jeweils ortsüblichen Standard erhalten und erhebliche Gefahren für die Gesundheit der Bewohner beseitigt werden Canada
- Rule
- Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 s. 20
- Applies even if the tenant knew of the state of non-repair before entering the tenancy agreement. Ontario residential tenancies; the remedy is in other sections that were not read for this guide.
in a good state of repair and fit for habitation and for complying with health, safety, housing and maintenance standardsSubsection (1) applies even if the tenant was aware of a state of non-repair Germany
- Rule
- BGB §§ 535, 536
- For housing, an agreement worse for the tenant on rent reduction is void (§ 536(4)).
in einem zum vertragsgemäßen Gebrauch geeigneten Zustand zu überlassen und sie während der Mietzeit in diesem Zustand zu erhalten so ist der Mieter für die Zeit, in der die Tauglichkeit aufgehoben ist, von der Entrichtung der Miete befreitEine unerhebliche Minderung der Tauglichkeit bleibt außer Betracht. Spain
- Rule
- Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos art. 21
- Housing leases. Small repairs from ordinary wear are the tenant's (art. 21.4). The tenant must tell the landlord of the need for repairs as soon as possible.
conservar la vivienda en las condiciones de habitabilidad para servir al uso convenidoLas pequeñas reparaciones que exija el desgaste por el uso ordinario de la vivienda serán de cargo del arrendatario.el arrendatario podrá ejecutar las obras necesarias y descontar su importe de las rentas futuras Netherlands
- Rule
- BW Boek 7 art. 204, 206, 207
- A defect is a state or property of the home not attributable to the tenant. Small repairs under art. 217 and defects the tenant caused are excluded.
goed onderhouden zaak van de soort als waarop de overeenkomst betrekking heeft De verhuurder is verplicht op verlangen van de huurder gebreken te verhelpen een daaraan evenredige vermindering van de huurprijs vorderen Norway
- Rule
- Husleieloven § 2-2
- Applies unless otherwise agreed. Remedies for defects are in other sections that were not read for this guide.
ryddet, rengjort og i vanlig god standpasser til de formål tilsvarende husrom vanligvis blir brukt til Sweden
- Rule
- Jordabalk 12 kap. 9 och 11 §§
- A worse standard may be agreed for a holiday dwelling or business premises. The remedies shown are those of 11 § for a flaw existing at the start of the lease.
fullt brukbar för det avsedda ändamåletenligt den allmänna uppfattningen i orten Hyresgästen får avhjälpa bristen på hyresvärdens bekostnadhar hyresgästen rätt till skälig nedsättning av hyran United Kingdom
- Rule
- Housing Act 2004 ss. 1, 2
- The Act does not impose a duty on the landlord to the tenant; it sets a system for local authorities to assess housing and enforce standards in England and Wales. The scores and hazards are set in regulations that are not ingested.
any risk of harm to the health or safety of an actual or potential occupier of a dwelling or HMO which arises from a deficiency in the dwelling improvement notices, prohibition orders and hazard awareness notices Countries not in this table yet
Japan is not shown because the ingested 借地借家法 sets no standard of condition for the home. The United States, Australia and France have no tenancy statute ingested.
How this table was built
Every row is taken from the official, consolidated text of the statute, which LawAsked loads from each government’s legislation service.
Each figure is tied to a passage quoted word for word from that text. When the page is served, it checks that every quoted passage is still in the current text of a law that is in force; if a law is amended and its wording changes, that row is hidden until a person reviews it again.
The table shows the statutory minimum only. Collective agreements, awards and individual contracts often give more than the statute, and some countries let a collective agreement set different terms.
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LawAsked, “Minimum standards a rental home must meet, by country”, https://lawasked.com/guides/rental-habitability-standards (reviewed October 25, 2026).
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