The Decent Homes Standard (DHS) – the government-defined benchmark for the quality of social housing – requires homes to be in a reasonable state of repair, have reasonably modern facilities, and not be subject to hazards like damp and mould.
Angela Rayner’s Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government wants to change this to bring in a mandate for private landlords to comply to the DHS as well.
Awaab’s Law, which will build upon the existing DHS when it comes into force later this year, will also only apply to social housing. The new standards will require social landlords to address damp and mould hazards within specific timeframes, and is named after two-year-old Awaab Ishak in Rochdale in 2020 following exposure to mould.
Two-year-old Awaab Ishak died in December 2020 following exposure damp and mould (Photo: Family handout/PA)
Social landlords who do not meet the DHS currently face a range of consequences including enforcement action, civil penalties and legal action from both tenants and councils. It’s thought that private landlords could face similar sanctions under the changes being proposed by the Government.
Other areas being looked at include safety. The Government would like to require private landlords to install window restrictors to prevent children from falling out of buildings. As The i Paper has previously reported, a number of children have fallen from residential blocks to their deaths in recent years.
A timeline for the changes has been outlined in a consultation announced on Tuesday.
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The Government says they hope that the consultation “balances the urgency of reform with the practical challenges faced by landlords”.
Today, the government has fleshed out this announcement by setting an ambition to deliver around 300,000 social and affordable homes with that funding, with at least 60 per cent of those being for social rent.
He called on the Government to “demonstrate a clear and credible timeline to implement its proposals”.
“While existing laws protect private renters whose homes are actively harmful to their health, the Decent Homes Standard will add an extra layer to make sure all renters get value for money, including those who rely on benefits and can often face the worst conditions.”
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