Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Deferred
Paragraph: 17
Require Government to update and implement Decent Homes Standard for all rented sectors promptly.
Recommendation
We recommend the Government proceeds without delay in the consultation necessary to update the Decent Homes Standard for the social rented sector and in implementing a Decent Homes Standard for the private rented sector. It should set out a timetable for doing so in response to this report.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government deflected the recommendation by discussing the role of the National Planning Policy Framework in creating healthy communities and stating they are not looking to extend the list of statutory planning consultees, rather than providing a timetable for updating and implementing the Decent Homes Standard.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
17
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
Everyone has the right to a safe and decent home and since 2001 the Decent Homes Standard (DHS) has played a key role in providing a minimum quality standard that social homes should meet. The Levelling Up White Paper set out the government’s ambition to halve the number of non-decent rented homes by 2030 with the biggest improvements in the lowest performing areas, highlighting our commitment to level up the sector and ensure all renters have good quality homes. During our consultation events preparing the Social Housing Green and White Papers, we heard that the DHS is no longer fully effective and does not meet present day concerns. We committed to reviewing the DHS in the Charter for Social Housing Residents: The Social Housing White Paper. In the Fairer Private Rented Sector White Paper we committed to extending the DHS to the private rented sector (PRS), ensuring that tenants across both tenures are secured in the knowledge that they are living in safe and decent homes. The Renters (Reform) Bill will deliver on this commitment, bringing the PRS under the scope of a DHS for the first time. We consulted on applying the DHS to the PRS at the end of 2022 and will be publishing our response to that in due course. It is important that residents, landlords and technical experts can have their voices heard on what the new DHS should cover. Launching a formal consultation is an essential part of the review process. During 2023 we engaged with residents, landlords and technical experts on changes to the DHS, following which we commissioned analysis on the costs and benefits of updated DHS options. It is critical that the DHS is introduced to all rented sectors and that it sets the right requirements on decency. We are working towards this and we intend to publish our consultation on an updated DHS soon. Obligations to repair hazards
Read the full response on Parliament ↗