Social Housing Standards

Lloyd Russell-Moyle Excerpts

Wednesday 16th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend who, in her previous role as leader of an outstanding local authority, did an enormous amount to champion the rights of tenants. I cannot comment further than I have on this case, but, yes, she is right that all of us have to take responsibility for improving the situation.

[Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton, Kemptown) (Lab/Co-op)]

This is an awfully tragic case, but I think we all agree that it is not an isolated one. Numerous constituents of all tenures—council, housing association and private rented—have been told that they have mould in their property because of lifestyle reasons. Will the Secretary of State commit to a timetable to bring forward the work in the Green Paper on the private rented sector and tell us the timescale for it? In that work, will there be a basic standard for ventilation? One of the big problems is that there is no national standard for what we expect of ventilation in properties, and that is causing much of the condensation problem.

[Michael Gove]

The hon. Gentleman is right to raise the question of ventilation, which was a particular factor that the coroner raised in this tragic case. More broadly, his point about the need to expedite legislation to improve conditions in the private rented sector is right, and we will make an announcement shortly about the timetable for legislation.