Housing Conditions in the Social Rented Sector

Raising the standard of social homes in England is essential given the progress at bringing homes up to a minimum standard has almost ground to a halt, finds this cross-party Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee report.

The report notes that the minimum standard of what is considered a decent home has not changed in twenty years and says, "it is not acceptable that just under 430,000 social homes still fail to meet even this basic standard". This includes housing for older people. Citing the Centre for Ageing Better, the report states: “Part of this challenge will involve increasing the diversity of housing options available, such as housing for older people. However, there is also a need to adapt existing homes. Currently, around one in five social homes meet basic accessibility criteria.”

The Committee’s report calls for the Government to use the delayed Long-term Housing Strategy to deliver an approach which addresses the twin objectives of building more social homes while ensuring conditions in existing housing stock are improved.

The report recommends the Government establish a new, modern Decent Homes Programme that supports social landlords to raise the standard of social homes, which includes a pooled fund for improvements to social homes and a single housing quality framework to consolidate the regulatory requirements on social landlords.