Recommendation 5

HM Government · verbatim extract Deferred

The death of a child is always heart-breaking – the more so when it is entirely preventable. Awaab Ishak was only two years old when he died of a severe respiratory condition caused by exposure to mould in his social home. Following the Coroner’s report on Awaab’s tragic death, the Ishak family, with the support of Manchester Evening News and Shelter, launched a petition for ‘Awaab’s Law’, and the government listened. Awaab’s Law was introduced through the landmark Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and enables the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to set new requirements for social landlords to address hazards such as damp and mould in social homes within a fixed time period. Awaab’s Law implies terms into social housing tenancy agreements so that, once regulations are in force, all social landlords will have to comply with the requirements of Awaab’s Law. If they do not, residents will be able to hold their social landlords to account by taking legal action through the courts for a breach of contract. We have consulted on the details of those proposed requirements, including the timescales, to make sure they are effective and proportionate and deliver the best long-term outcomes for social housing residents. The consultation closed on 5 March 2024, and we are now analysing responses to the consultation. Once this has been completed, we will publish a response setting out findings and will then bring forward secondary legislation to bring Awaab’s Law into force in the social rented sector as soon as practicable. We agree that no tenant should have to live in dangerous housing conditions. We are taking steps to ensure that hazards in rented homes are dealt with promptly by landlords in both the private and social rented sector. But how we achieve this needs to take account of the differences between the two tenures. Awaab’s Law was designed for social housing. Most social landlords manage large portfolios, and many have dedicated repairs and maintenance contracts or in-house teams, enabling them to tackle issues to specific timeframes. A different approach is needed for the PRS, in which vast majority of landlords own a small number of properties. We are strengthening enforcement against hazards in privately rented homes through the Renters (Reform) Bill. The Bill will allow local councils to issue immediate fines of up to £5,000 if a dangerous hazard is present in a privately rented homes and the landlord has failed to take reasonably practicable steps to address it. This will provide a strong incentive for private landlords to take prompt action if tenants complain about unsafe conditions, as they may be fined if they do not. The Renters (Reform) Bill includes other measures to ensure private rented sector tenants have safe and decent homes. It introduces a Decent Homes Standard for privately rented homes and provides local councils with enforcement powers to require private landlords to remedy failures to meet Decent Homes Standard requirements. The Bill also introduces a new PRS Ombudsman which will allow private tenants to get their standards and repair issues resolved quickly and for free if their landlord has not acted appropriately to remedy an issue within a reasonable timeframe. We expect the Ombudsman to be able to require that landlords provide a tenant with compensation. National quality standards