February 2023 – update on government’s work to improve the quality of social housing
The government has a programme of reform to improve the quality of social housing. Every month, progress on our commitments will be shared on these pages, as part of our commitment to respond to the tragic death of 2 year old Awaab Ishak.
Applies to England
Overview
Since our last update in January, we have continued to progress our reforms to raise the standard of social housing in this country.
On 9 February, the Housing Secretary Michael Gove tabled an amendment to the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill for ‘Awaab’s Law’. The amendment will require social landlords to fix hazards, such as damp and mould, in their homes within strict time limits.
The amendment is in memory of 2 year old Awaab Ishak, who tragically died from exposure to damp and mould in his home.
The Housing Secretary announced the news at a meeting with Awaab Ishak’s family in Rochdale, where he thanked them for their tireless campaigning and fight for justice. The family welcomed the government’s action.
The Secretary of State also met with Rochdale Boroughwide Housing to discuss improvements they are making to their governance and services, in response to failings that led to the tragic death of Awaab Ishak. The government continues to block funding to Rochdale Boroughwide Housing to build new homes until it can prove it is a responsible landlord.
The government continues to progress the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill through Parliament. The Bill’s next step is Report Stage on 1 March where amendments to the Bill, including Awaab’s Law, will be debated in the House of Commons.
Awaab’s law
The Coroner’s report on the death of Awaab Ishak found that no action was taken by their housing association (Rochdale Boroughwide Housing) to treat and prevent the mould that led to the tragic death of the 2-year old. The Housing Secretary has been clear that his death should never have happened
Awaab’s Law will require all landlords to investigate and fix reported hazards in their homes within a specified time frame, or rehouse tenants where a home cannot be made safe.
The new rules will form part of the social housing tenancy agreement, so tenants can hold landlords to account through the courts if they fail to provide a decent home.
The government will launch a consultation later this year to set the timeframes within which landlords will have to act to investigate hazards and make repairs. This will help to make sure that the new requirements for landlords lead to the right outcomes for tenants.
Awaab’s Law will then be introduced via secondary legislation.
Professionalisation
Last week, the government tabled an amendment to the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill, which will require all social housing managers to have a professional qualification.
Around 25,000 managers across the sector will have to hold an appropriate level housing management qualification regulated by Ofqual equivalent to a Level 4 or 5 Certificate or Diploma in Housing, or a foundation degree from the Chartered Institute of Housing.
The change will help to protect residents and raise standards, ensuring residents receive a high level of service and are treated with respect at all times.
It will also bring social housing more closely into line with other sectors providing front line services, including social work, teaching, and health and care services. Any landlord who fails to meet the requirements of the new standards could receive an unlimited fine from the regulator.
Consumer rights and regulation
The Social Housing (Regulation) Bill will bring about the greatest overhaul of social housing regulation in over a decade.
Housing Ombudsman
Under the Bill, the Housing Ombudsman will receive new powers to hold landlords to account. As part of this, we have now introduced an amendment to the Bill that will help ensure landlords learn from past mistakes.
The Ombudsman will have the power to instruct landlords to measure their service against guidance on problems like damp and mould, to help improve their response to complaints from tenants.
The Regulator of Social Housing
The Bill will also strengthen the Regulator of Social Housing, including new powers to issue unlimited fines to landlords that fail to meet standards in their homes and make emergency repairs where serious risks to tenants are found, with landlords footing the bill. The Regulator has now published their implementation plan for the new consumer regulation regime.
It also recently published initial findings on damp and mould, after collecting data from social landlords across England. This showed that between 1-2% of social homes (40,000 to 80,000) are estimated to have serious damp and mould problems, and a further 3-4% (120,000 to 160,000) to have notable damp and mould. The Regulator will be taking action against landlords that reported high numbers of damp and mould cases.
Consultation launch
The Housing Secretary has the power to direct the Regulator of Social Housing on some part of the standards it sets for social landlords. We have launched a technical consultation on updating two of our directions for the Regulator that will make sure tenants’ voices are heard and strengthen their access to existing rights:
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Tenant involvement: under the proposed changes, landlords will have to make sure all tenants have the chances to engage with their landlords in a meaningful way. Landlords will also have to give tenants greater opportunities to scrutinise their service and offer support so all tenants can get involved, through activities like tenant groups.
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Mutual exchange: Tenants have the right to use a service that helps them exchange their home with other social housing tenants. We want to strengthen this service by giving providers more freedom in how they allow tenants to access it, and by requiring landlords to support tenants who may struggle to use the service.
You can find more information on the consultation and submit responses. The consultation is open until the 30 March.
Making tenants’ voices heard
The government has also continued its work in meeting the Social Housing White Paper commitments to make sure tenants are properly supported and their voices truly heard.
Resident panel
In the last month, we have held focus groups where members of the social housing resident panel discussed the transparency and accountability of landlords.
These discussions will support the development of the future Access to Information Scheme – a new scheme that is being designed to allow tenants of housing associations to request information from their landlords about the management of their housing.
More information on what the resident panel has discussed and how this has influenced the work of the Department will be published on the Social Housing Quality Resident Panel page in due course.
Complaints awareness campaign
The government is set to launch the next phase of our complaints awareness campaign.
This important campaign aims to make sure that everyone living in social housing knows their rights, how to sound the alarm when their landlord is failing to deliver good quality homes, and how to get their landlord to fix problems without delay.
It will include a media campaign and a programme of support to train local people in the community who help tenants directly.
Looking ahead
Over the course of this year, we will:
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Launch the consultation on ‘Awaab’s Law’. The details of the requirements introduced through this legislation, including time limits for action, will be set through a consultation.
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Carry out a rapid review of existing guidance on the health impacts of damp and mould in homes. We aim to publish new guidance tailored to the housing sector by summer 2023.
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Continue to progress the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill through Parliament. We expect the Bill to progress through to Royal Assent soon in this parliamentary session.
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Following Royal Assent of the Bill, the Regulator will launch its consultation on its new consumer regulation regime and updating its regulatory standards.
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Further engage tenants in our policy development through our Resident Panel. The next full panel meeting will take place on 15 April and will be a chance for the Department to show the panel how their feedback has shaped our policy.
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Provide social housing tenants with free training as part of our new Resident Opportunities and Empowerment Programme. Tenants can learn how to take an active role in how their home is managed through a series of workshops, forums and online resources.
Further information and resources
Details on the full programme of work the government is delivering can be found on the Social Housing Quality page.
More information about how a Bill progresses through Parliament is available on the Parliament website.