Deputy Prime Minister will today (Sunday) announce
a package of measures to ensure decent homes for all in her
speech to Labour's annual conference.
This follows Rayner's announcement at the end of July of a raft
of measures to support social and affordable housebuilding,
including by introducing more flexibilities in the current
Affordable Housing Programme and reforms to Right to Buy.
Opening Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, the Housing,
Communities and Local Government Secretary will commit to
“building homes fit for the future” as she announces a package of
measures to ensure homes are decent, warm, and safe.
This year's annual conference will see the Labour Party set out
how change has already begun to fix the foundations to rebuild
Britain. After 14 years of the Conservatives ducking difficult
decisions, running down public services, and beating the hope out
of the country, the Labour Party will use this conference to show
how the new government will bring it back.
The move to protect private renters, social and housing tenants
comes after the publication of the Grenfell Inquiry's final
report earlier this month, more than seven years after the
devastating fire that claimed 72 lives.
The package of measures to ensure decent homes for all announced
today includes:
· Consulting on a new
Decent Homes Standard for the social rented and private rented
sectors.
· Bringing forward
legislation on Awaab's Law this autumn, so hazards such as damp
and mould are identified and remedied to set timescales. The
Government will implement Awaab's Act for social housing and is
extending protections to the private rented sector through the
Renter's Rights Bill. This will support tenants living in 746,000
homes with reported serious hazards to secure faster repairs,
reducing health and safety risks.
· Bringing forward new
access to information requirements on social housing landlords,
to enable 2.5 million housing associations tenants to hold their
landlords to account to drive up the quality of housing and
services they provide, and new competence and conduct standards
to ensure staff have the right skills and experience to support
tenants when things go wrong.
· Bringing forward a
Remediation Acceleration Plan this Autumn to go further and
faster to fix unsafe cladding and make existing homes safe.
· Bringing forward plans
for high quality housebuilding - and homes fit for the future -
through the revised National Planning Policy Framework this
Autumn.
, Deputy Prime Minister,
speaking ahead of her speech opening Labour Conference,
said:
“Just because Britain isn't working at the moment, it doesn't
mean it can't be fixed. We will deliver for working people and,
in doing so, show that politics can change lives.
“We've inherited a Tory housing crisis. This Labour Government is
taking a wave of bold action to not only build the housing our
country needs and boost social and affordable housing, but to
ensure all homes are decent, safe, and warm.
“Whilst many housing associations and Councils do their best to
support tenants, too many have been let down for too long stuck
in substandard and even dangerous homes and we've seen the
devastating consequences. The work of change has begun.
“For Labour this is not just about building houses at any cost
but making houses people can call home. This means ending the
scandalous situation where standards for existing and future
tenants don't currently even meet the minimum of safety and
decency everyone should expect.”
“Today Labour is committing to raising the bar on the poor
standards we've inherited from the Tories to ensure homes are fit
for the future. This Labour government is fixing the foundations
as a rock-solid platform from which to rebuild Britain.”
