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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if the Government will set up an independent review of the living standards maintained by housing associations.

This Government is clear that all social landlords have a legal obligation to ensure their homes are decent and fit to live in under the Decent Homes Standard which we have committed to reviewing. We will also introduce a Renters Reform Bill in this Parliament and we will legislate to introduce a legally binding Decent Homes Standard for the first time. We have consulted on this proposal and are currently reviewing the responses. This is a key plank of our ambitious mission to halve the number of non-decent homes across all rented tenures by 2030, with the biggest improvements in the lowest performing areas.

Our Social Housing Regulation Bill will bring in a rigorous new regime where the Regulator of Social Housing will proactively inspect landlords and will have the power to issue unlimited fines. It will be able to intervene cases where tenants' lives are being put at risk and, in the very worst cases, it will have the power to instruct that properties are brought under new management.

The Secretary of State recently wrote to all local authority Chief Executives and council leaders, and all providers of social housing, on ensuring quality in social housing. The letters are available here.