Introduction

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgement is given to LG Regulation and ANUK for allowing the use of the source material.

Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland

Introduction to Subject

The Decent Homes Standard is a measure of general housing conditions. It was introduced by the Government in 2000 and initially only applied to Social Housing. It forms a minimum standard that all social housing should meet by 2010 and which can be measured consistently across all social housing stock. The progress that Local Authorities, RSLs and other social landlords are making towards achieving this target, or other renegotiated deadline, is monitored by the Government and the Housing Corporation.

It is a standard that triggers action, not one to which work is necessarily carried out and work to bring properties up to the standard should not be undertaken in isolation from the wider mixed-communities schemes and regeneration programmes of Local Authorities.

The standard applies to all social housing, except leasehold and shared ownership properties. Social housing includes sheltered housing and non-self contained or supported housing. The Standard does not apply to Care Homes providing nursing care and regulated by the Commission for Social Care. Although leasehold and shared ownership properties are excluded from the social sector side of the target, they can be included as part of the private sector if the properties are occupied by vulnerable people.

In 2002 the Decent Homes standard was extended to include the private sector with the focus on reducing the proportion of vulnerable households living in non-decent homes. Here, 'vulnerable' means those in receipt of a means tested or disability related benefit and the private sector includes owner occupied, as well as privately rented properties.

Although private landlords are not directly required to take any action to bring their properties up to this standard, the Government has set targets for Local Authorities. This challenge has had a major affect on their approach to the private rented sector and is therefore likely to have a significant indirect affect on landlords. The private rented sector currently has the lowest percentage of decent homes of all sectors.

Results from the 2005 EHCS show that housing conditions are continuing to improve. Between 1996 and 2005 the number of non-decent homes has fallen by over 3 million, from 9.1 million (45%) to 6 million (27%) in 2005.

In 2005, 73% private sector homes were decent, with 71% social sector homes decent, as shown in the Table below. This private sector figure included owner occupiers. Taking the private rented sector on its own, lower numbers are seen than any of the other tenure groups with only 61% of homes being decent. 75% owner occupied and 66% of LA owned homes were decent, but the RSL sector had the best housing conditions with 76% of homes meeting the standard.

It should be noted that these figures use the fitness standard as the means of determining whether Criterion i is satisfied. From April 2006 the Fitness standard was replaced by the HHSRS. National results for the HHSRS and its incorporation into the Decent Homes Standard will be presented as part of the 2006 EHCS report, not published at the time of writing.

Table reproduced from The English House Condition Survey 2005 Annual Report, DCLG publication: May 2007, ISBN 13 978 185 112 882 2, Ref. no.: 07 HC 04599

The targets set by Government for Local Authorities in the private sector relate to properties housing 'vulnerable' people. According to the EHCS, of the 3.2 million 'vulnerable' households living in the private sector in 2005, 66% live in homes meeting the standard. This is broken down into 71% of 'vulnerable' owner occupiers living in decent homes compared to just 52% of 'vulnerable' private tenants.