Urgent action is needed by government to protect tenants who live
in poor quality homes that can have a catastrophic impact on
their health.
The report published by the Health and Social Care Committee
today calls on the government to proceed without delay in the
steps needed to update the Decent Homes Standard for social
housing tenants and set out a timetable for its extension to
cover the private rented sector.
More than three years after the Government first committed to
review and then extend the Decent Homes Standard to the private
rented sector, no legal minimum quality standard exists to
protect tenants in private rentals. The Decent Homes Standard has
not been updated since 2006.
MPs conclude the less well-off and those living in less
well-off neighbourhoods are much more likely to develop
life-limiting health conditions and to die prematurely from the
effects of those conditions. The most serious housing hazards
include fire and electrical risks, excess cold, excess
heat, damp and mould, and air pollution. In 2020,
two-year-old Awaab Ishak died from a respiratory condition caused
by mould in a housing association property.
A determined focus on developing "healthy places" that can
prevent ill-health for those most at risk is vital to ease
pressures on the NHS and build a sustainable service for future
generations, says the committee.
The Healthy places report is the second to be published by the
committee in its major inquiry intopreventing ill-health
with ten workstreams being examined.
Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee
said:
“Poor quality homes can have a catastrophic impact on the health
of the those who live in them. The death of two-year-old Awaab
Ishak from a respiratory condition caused by mould in his home
should leave Ministers in no doubt that tenants in both the
social and private rented sectors deserve greater protection by
law.
“The government has dragged its feet on updating the Decent Homes
Standard for the social rented sector and in extending it to
cover the private rented sector. We’re calling on the government
to set out its timetable for doing so without delay.
“Our report welcomes the government’s plan to introduce Awaab’s
law for tenants in the social sector. We urge swift action on the
outcome of the consultation, but the government must also
consider safeguards for tenants in the private sector where risks
of damp and mould can pose an immediate danger to health.
“Creating healthy places to live to prevent ill-health among the
population must take priority for Ministers. Not only will that
reduce pressures on the NHS but will save vast sums spent each
year on treating people with preventable illness.”
ENDS
In evidence to the committee, the Building Research Establishment
found that the annual cost to the NHS of leaving people in the
poorest housing was around £1.4
billion.
Key recommendations:
- Committee welcomes government measures proposed in Awaab’s
law to protect social sector tenants from the worst impacts of
unhealthy homes. Recommends that the government act quickly on
the outcome of its consultation and should also consider how
similar safeguards could be extended to tenants in the private
rented sector who are affected by housing hazards, such as damp
and mould that can pose an immediate danger to
health.
- MPs urge the government to require developers to aim higher,
with quality housing and development that protects residents’
health, especially in the private rented sections and in
conversions (including plans to allow developers to convert
premises such as hotels and hostels into housing without the need
for planning permission, via a proposed extension of Permitted
Development Rights).
- Government should consult on both the content of existing
design and space standards as they relate to health, and on the
implications of making such standards mandatory for new
dwellings.
- DHSC should work with NHS England and existing networks and
providers to develop a national strategy for social prescribing
with the aim to improve understanding among frontline clinical
practitioners of the benefits and to improve confidence in
offering social and community-based solutions to unmet social
needs.
- Urge DHSC to reconsider the case for mandating a public
health representative to be included on an ICB, a previous
recommendation by the committee that was rejected by government.
