The Decent Home Standard historically applied solely to the social housing sector.

Since 2019 the Government wants this extended to the private rental sector (PRS).  Everything is still in consultation – which means I can give you an idea of the path but do not yet know the result. One new element that has been introduced points to tenants being accountable for how they live in their home. Therefore, if a breach in the standard is due to a tenant’s lack of care or neglect, the landlord should not be held accountable for the violation.

In short what it means:

1. Properties should be let in a reasonable state of repair
2. They should also have reasonably modern facilities and services (no definition of what this means)
3. And they should provide a reasonable degree of thermal comfort (which would be judged by the EPC )

Anyone reading past list need not worry. We only work with landlords that provide good quality homes – that is why we see an average tenancy of 40 months.
At the recent Labour Conference Awaab’s Law was also mentioned with the legislation being brought forward to this autumn. This law this is more directed to social landlords, but it looks as a though this will be introduced across all rented sectors in the future.

What is Awaab’s Law

Bought about and named after Awaab Ishak a two-year-old boy who died from a respiratory condition caused by mould in his Rochdale home which was managed by a social landlord. In short, the law aims to improve the safety and health of people living in social housing by addressing damp and mould issues.

This law is part of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and places new responsibilities on both landlords and tenants. It requires social housing landlords to:

• Investigate hazards within two weeks of them being reported.
•  Begin fixing hazards within three weeks.
• Make emergency repairs within 24 hours.
• Keep records of all attempts to comply with the law.

The hazards are no different from the 29 listed in the Housing Health Safety Rating System (HHSRS) 2004 – the top hazard being damp and mould. However, the wording seems to be pointing in the direction that tenants cannot initially be blamed for mould or damp in their home. Investigation needs to be carried out before a conclusion drawn. Given the fact that a recent survey by the Property Ombudsman found that a majority of issues were caused by the tenant, I think we are going to go full circle to come to the same outcome. Because of this we have produced a new damp and mould survey which will cut to the chase an point to the issue.

There is a lot more in the legislation that applies to the social sector – which to be honest is the right direction since poor management led to a child losing their life. It includes a ‘Competence and Conduct’ standard social rented sector will be introduced to ensure staff have the right skills, behaviours and experience. It will include qualification requirements for senior managers and executives. Given that we already work above what the law requires, are qualified, and provide a competent service to landlords and tenants. This isn’t an issue for us!

The responsibility for all this enforcement will likely fall on local authorities, who are mostly under significant pressure; without new resources and funding to support the implementation of the decent homes’ standard, many councils will inevitably struggle.

If you have any queries on the Renters’ Rights Bill or would like to find out how we are managing damp and mould issues in the properties we manage. Just click here to book time for a chat.