Labour MPs have given Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook a roasting over what they claim is the slow implementation timetable for the Decent Homes Standard in the private rental sector.
The government is currently consulting on the new standard which will be introduced in principle as part of the Renters Rights Bill, when that becomes law in the autumn. However, landlords are not being expected to ensure properties meet the new standards until well into the future – in the cases of some measures, not until 2037.
The government’s proposals – out to consultation until mid-September – are based on five principles:
The suggested implementation date for the new Decent Homes Standard is either 2035 or 2037, with the long lead-in time giving the sector time to get to grips with new minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES) set to be introduced to all tenancies – in both the private and social sectors – by 2030.
However, some Labour MPs are angry at the apparent slow implementation.
In a Commons committee meeting Sarah Smith MP said: “To be waiting 10 years seems extreme given the money being made in this sector, and the responsibility every single landlord should have to provide a home with running water, and free from damp and mould and rat infestations. Surely there could be greater urgency than 2035.”
She also said: “We have had 72 children die due to their living conditions between 2019 and 2024 so why would there be this delay?”
Influential MP Florence Eshalomi – chair of the Commons housing select committee – told Pennycook when he gave evidence to the committee: “We now have a situation where we have almost two million people on the housing waiting list. We’ve seen local authorities spend £2.29 billion. I don’t need to read these figures to you.
“The situation is getting dire on a daily basis. We cannot compare it to when the last Labour government [were in power]. We keep saying we’re in a housing crisis. There are issues with in temporary accommodation. Unless we do things differently, Minister, we’re going to keep spending money as a sticking tape on this.”
Pennycook gave no ground on the timescale, saying: “We’re going to raise standards across the board, through an upgraded and modernised decent homes standard. On the timelines, as I said, the previous Labour government’s decent homes programme… I don’t think anyone at that point in time would have been saying, ‘we think you just need to get on with it’.”
This article is taken from Landlord Today