Nearly 430,000 social homes in England fail to meet the decent homes standard, prompting cross-party MPs to call for reforms to improve conditions for tenants.
The Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) select committee said minimum standards for social housing have gone more than two decades without an update, leaving residents living in substandard conditions.
‘Too many people living in social housing suffer from appalling housing conditions and do not have their complaints treated seriously,’ the committee said.
Against this backdrop, MPs are urging a revision of the decent homes standard and recommend it be reviewed every 10 years to reflect modern housing needs. The report notes: ‘The current standard has been out-of-date for some time and is in urgent need of reform, given that it was last updated in 2006.’
The committee also said the government should use its delayed Long-term Housing Strategy to both build more social homes and improve conditions in existing stock.
The phased rollout of Awaab’s Law, designed to tackle damp and mould in social homes, has been welcomed. But the committee warned that tenants and landlords still lack a clear roadmap for the remaining stages and urged the government to publish a timeline to extend the law to all housing hazards.
Meanwhile, rising energy costs are putting extra pressure on households. The report warns that even homes meeting the government’s new energy efficiency standard can still leave residents in fuel poverty if they can’t afford adequate heating. It urges ministers to update the official definition of fuel poverty to reflect this reality.
Florence Eshalomi MP, chair of the committee, said: ‘Whether it is residents living in poorly insulated homes, experiencing overcrowding, or enduring housing with damp or mould, it’s vital that government measures, including Awaab’s Law and the new decent homes standard, bring a meaningful improvement to social housing conditions.
‘The government deserves credit for the steps taken to rebuild the sector’s financial capacity after years of underinvestment.
‘However, we do have concerns about the resources available to social housing providers to meet the government’s new social homes target while also raising standards over the decade.’
News of the report comes as Labour’s plan to enforce a new decent homes standard for private rental in England faces a 2035 deadline crisis. Campaigners have warned millions of people – including children – will remain in unsafe properties for the next nine years.
The report can be read in full here.
Image: Jay Wennington/UnSplash
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