launches consultation
proposing new legal requirements for social
landlordsto address hazards including damp and
mould quickly and appropriately.
Comes six months after the Social Housing (Regulation)
Act became law.
Building on wider reforms to improve social housing,
including new powers for the Regulator to issue unlimited fines
to poorly performing social landlords.
New plans to clamp down on rogue social landlords who fail to
provide safe homes have been announced today, supporting the
Government’s pledge to deliver Awaab’s Law.
The two-year-old from Rochdale died from a respiratory condition
caused by extensive mould in the flat where he lived, and the
Government is taking action to introduce lifechanging reforms in
social housing to prevent future tragedies.
The Awaab’s Law consultation has been launched by the Housing
Secretary, which proposes introducing new strict time limits for
social housing providers and force them to take swift action in
addressing dangerous hazards such as damp and mould.
It proposes new legal requirements for social landlords to
investigate hazards within 14 days, start fixing within a further
7 days, and make emergency repairs within 24 hours. Those
landlords who fail can be taken to court where they may be
ordered to pay compensation for tenants.
Landlords will be expected to keep clear records to improve
transparency for tenants – showing every attempt is made to
comply with the new timescales so they can no longer dither and
delay to rectify people’s homes.
Housing Secretary,
said:
“The tragic death of Awaab Ishak should never have happened. His
family have shown courageous leadership, determination and
dignity to champion these changes and now it’s time for us to
deliver for them through Awaab’s Law.
“Today is about stronger and more robust action against social
landlords who have refused to take their basic responsibilities
seriously for far too long. We will force them to fix their homes
within strict new time limits and take immediate action to tackle
dangerous damp and mould to help prevent future
tragedies.
“Alongside Awaab’s Law, our landmark Social Housing Act will
drastically improve the quality of life in social housing,
granting residents a proper voice to fight those who think they
can cheat the system and ensuring rogue landlords face the full
force of the law.”
Social Housing campaigner, Kwajo Tweneboa said:
“As we know many families across the country are
still living in homes with damp and mould, creating misery but
more worryingly risks their health and safety.
“I’m pleased to see Awaab’s Law reach the consultation phase and
hope that it goes far enough to prevent other families going
through the tragedy Awaab’s family have had to. It’s crucial the
government are able to make sure this law has teeth and is
enforced for it to work as intended.”
Through the measures announced today tenants will be able to take
their landlords to court if they fail to fix dangerous hazards.
This builds on the progress already made to drive up standards in
social housing.
There has been consistent improvement in the quality of social
homes since 2010 – with a reduction in non-decent social homes
from 20% in 2010 to 10% last year – but the Government recognises
there is more work to do.
The Social Housing (Regulation) Act, which became law last year, will
equip the Regulator of Social Housing and tenants with stronger
powers and rights to hold the small minority of rogue landlords
accountable.
New enforcement powers will also be available for the Regulator
to weed out bad landlord practices – including issuing unlimited
fines and entering properties with only 48 hours’ notice to make
emergency repairs in the most severe
cases.
As part of changes to deliver Awaab’s Law, the Government
recently consulted on what more
tenants need to better understand their rights and challenge
social landlords when things go wrong – the direction to the
Regulator will be published in the coming
weeks.
The Government will go even further to support residents by
applying greater professional standards to all social housing
staff and setting new qualification requirements for senior
managers and executives so providers can deliver the service that
tenants deserve.
This is the latest step in addressing systemic issues identified
following the Grenfell Tower fire – not just the safety and
quality of social housing but how tenants are treated by their
landlords.
ENDS
Further information:
- Awaab’s Law consultation will be open for eight weeks and
further details on how to respond can be found here
- Following the analysis of responses, we will introduce
secondary legislation to bring Awaab’s Law into force as soon as
practically possible.
- The Government continues to engage with the social housing
sector, residents, and experts to address unsafe homes. We
publish monthly updates on work to improve the quality of social
housing in England and the latest update is available
here
- More details on Government reforms can be found on the
Social Housing Quality
page
