Private Rented Sector (Decent Homes Standard)

Laura Sandys Excerpts

Wednesday 28th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Laura Sandys (South Thanet) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require private landlords to ensure that any property they let meets the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard; and for connected purposes.

This Bill aims to expect all landlords to comply with the decent homes standard, which we already demand of council-owned and housing association properties. I find it strange that we demand high standards for those properties owned by local authorities and housing associations, yet we do not have the same standards for the homes that families rent from private landlords. Why the difference? We cannot continue distinguishing between tenure, ownership or lobby when setting the standards that we expect of the homes in which our families, our pensioners, our friends and family live.

Why would we discriminate against some tenants merely on the basis of who owns that property, not who lives in that property? The requirements of the decent homes standard are not particularly onerous nor unreasonable. They are standards of decency. Properties must meet the current statutory minimum safety standard for housing. That is not exactly revolutionary. Properties must be in a reasonable state of repair. Is that an unreasonable expectation, particularly when the properties are occupied by families on low income, who lack the ability or finance to do their own repairs?

Properties must have reasonably modern facilities and services. In some of the properties that I go into in my constituency, I am shocked to see that there are no cookers, only microwaves. That captures those families into having to buy expensive food, with a lack of choice and lack of resilience. We should not allow families to have to live with such facilities in private rented properties, when in many cases we, as the community and society, pay those landlords to house those tenants.

Properties must provide a reasonable degree of thermal comfort—that is, efficient heating and effective insulation. Why should those who rent privately have any different level of comfort or, more importantly, have to pay double what council tenants pay for the same level of heat? It is a perverse situation that we set up elaborate Government schemes to get better energy efficiency when improvements to the standard of the housing itself would help those in greater fuel poverty. It is not the people who leak energy; it is homes that are badly insulated.

I represent one of the poorest wards in the United Kingdom and I am passionate about housing as it is at the heart of many of the problems faced by my community. In one ward, 84% of accommodation is privately rented, which creates fundamental challenges. There are some good landlords and some bad landlords. Some make 14% return on their investment year on year off the back of housing benefit, and do not reinvest that into the properties. I am sure that many hon. Members have experienced properties where deprivation can be smelled before they get to the door. There is the smell of damp and the common parts show that the properties are not of a standard that we would consider fit to live in. There is a lack of proper ventilation and of care and attention, and they are unsafe for children or the elderly.

Do we not think that everyone deserves a place of security that can be called home, even temporarily? Draughts can be felt driving through flats that are impossible to heat due to rotten windows. There is mould in the kitchens and wallpaper coming off the walls. These are unfit properties and they create a much greater turnover of tenants, undermining community cohesion, disrupting children’s education, breaking links with support services that are so important to many families, and eroding any sense of permanency that would allow families to put down roots.

Furthermore, some of my elderly constituents find some landlords intimidating and will not make a case for repairs or better insulation. I am sure that many hon. Members have made representations on behalf of such people to landlords, if they can be found. Even councils are confused about the standards needed, with some landlords happy to test enforcement standards in court, and often playing what I call legal chicken with the council. Why are we putting up with all this displacement activity to try to establish decent homes for decent people when a clear standard would create a much more transparent and fair set of expectations on all sides?

The housing crisis is a staple part of today’s political lexicon, but it is crucial to remember and to highlight that the housing crisis that we face is, for many, a qualitative one as well as a quantitative one. It is now time to start setting the standard for the tenant rather than on the basis of ownership. Let us look at the quality as well as the quantity of our nation’s housing, because all families, wherever they live, under whatever tenure, deserve decent homes.

Question put and agreed to.

Ordered,

That Laura Sandys, Dr Julian Huppert, Mr Mark Prisk, Mr Stewart Jackson, Mr Andrew Love, Mark Pawsey, Bob Blackman, Mr Jim Cunningham, Mrs Cheryl Gillan, Caroline Lucas and Stephen Gilbert present the Bill.

Laura Sandys accordingly presented the Bill.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 6 March, and to be printed (Bill 164).