Unfit Housing

Dear constituent,

Thank you for contacting me about housing conditions in the private and social rented sectors.

I share your concerns that too many tenants are living in insecure, poor-quality accommodation, with some of the worst standards being in the private sector.

One in five privately rented homes are classified as non-decent and one in ten have at least one hazard posing a serious threat to health and safety. Unless the private rented sector is reformed, I am worried it will not provide enough protection for those who need it most.

The Government said it will introduce a White Paper on renters’ reform this spring, but it first promised such reforms three years ago. I believe Ministers must urgently bring forward legislation to improve conditions and strengthen private renters’ rights.

On social housing, the Housing Ombudsman has raised concerns about the high rate of maladministration and has underlined the importance of ensuring landlord complaint processes are accessible and effective. I have long supported calls for social housing tenants to be given a stronger voice and recourse.

In my view, the lack of decent, secure and genuinely affordable social homes is at the heart of the problem, which is why I am supporting calls for a new generation of safe and green, quality social housing. I urge Ministers to step up and give councils the power to deliver the housing their communities need.

The Government has published several draft clauses of its Social Housing Bill, including proposals to broaden the remit of the Regulator of Social Housing. It is expected to be introduced to Parliament by June.

The Levelling Up White Paper pledges to improve housing conditions to make homes fit for the 21st century. Yet many of the policies included in it are reannouncements. The Government sets out 12 missions to be met by 2030, including one on housing, but as the Institute for Fiscal Studies notes, there is little detail on how Ministers will achieve those goals and even less detail on funding.

If Ministers are serious about levelling up all parts of the country, they must deliver a new generation of quality social housing and legislate to improve conditions across all forms of rented accommodation. 

Thank you once again for contacting me about this issue.

Yours Sincerely,

Peter Dowd MP