Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has read the report, The hidden costs of poor quality housing in the North, published in October 2018 by the Northern Consortium; and if he will make a statement.

My officials have noted the contents of the Report. The Report recognises that the Decent Homes Standard has made a real difference to the lives of tenants by driving improvements to standards in social housing. Since 2010, the proportion of social homes failing to meet the Decent Homes Standard is down 7 percentage points and the proportion of private rented homes is down 10 percentage points.

Most landlords provide decent, high quality accommodation, but a minority of them are not keeping their properties in a safe condition. We have strengthened local authorities’ enforcement powers, introduced civil penalties, extended rent repayment orders, introduced banning orders and extended licensing of higher-risk houses in multiple occupation. These measures will go a long way to crack down on landlords who neglect their properties, and rogue landlords will have to improve their properties or leave the business.

The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is being reviewed to assess how well it works in practice and whether it needs to be updated. The Government is also supporting the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Bill which will require landlords to ensure that their properties are free from potentially serious hazards at the start of and throughout a tenancy.