We ask that the government bring forward the revised Decent Homes Standard as soon as possible

The new government is already showing it intends to tackle the housing crisis. We have a Secretary of State who proudly talks about her experiences growing up in social housing, a Housing Minister who met with NHF CEO Kate Henderson on his first day in the job, and a King’s Speech promising planning reform, devolution and strengthened renters’ rights.

We even had Sir Keir Starmer commit to reviewing the Decent Homes Standard in his first Prime Minister’s Questions. The government has also committed to extending the Decent Homes Standard (DHS) to the private rented sector. But it has not given any details about the timings and breadth of these reforms for social landlords. For a true renewal of social housing, a new standard for the decency of homes must be front and centre of a government-led long-term plan for housing. This new standard must ensure homes are truly fit for modern standards of living.

This is vitally important for housing associations. Without clarity on forthcoming requirements, housing associations cannot confidently make decisions about how they need to adapt their approach to repairs, maintenance and planned improvement works. This hasn’t stopped landlords investing in existing homes. Currently, 90% of housing association homes meet the DHS (compared to 79% of private rented homes). Furthermore, housing associations spent £7.7 billion on repairs and maintenance in 2022/23, a record level and 20% higher than the previous year. The social housing sector has fundamentally reassessed how it can and should maintain and improve residents’ homes, through the Better Social Housing Review and subsequent strengthening of consumer regulation.

But the lack of clarity seriously limits the extent to which landlords can invest, given the significant financial pressures on the sector and the broad range of other new requirements placed on social landlords.

 The NHF is keen for the government to bring forward the review of the DHS as quickly as possible. The previous government committed to review the DHS in the Social Housing White Paper, published in November 2020. There have been several stages of the review since then, but no details have yet been confirmed.

We are calling on the new government to commit, within its first 100 days, to progress the review at pace and then share a public consultation as soon as possible. The revised DHS must set higher minimum decency standards that help improve the condition of homes for all residents, and focus on making homes safer, warmer, and better suited for modern ways of living.

The new Decent Homes Standard – key principles for the government

The NHF and our housing association members are keen to support this however possible. To this end, we have developed a series of key principles  to help the government ensure the revised DHS is developed in a way that is practical and financially viable for social landlords:

• Build on existing requirements: the new DHS should build on current standards to make the transition easier for social landlords.
• Confirm new requirements for the social rented sector as soon as possible, including confirming Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards with a target of reaching EPC C across all social homes by 2030. This must align with forthcoming EPC reforms.
• Provide a reasonable lead in time for landlords to meet the revised standard.
• Fully evidence and carefully consider the true costs of new requirements.
• Provide adequate funding to support the sector to meet new burdens, through a commitment to a 10-year rent settlement with annual rent increases of up to CPI+1% and grant funding for new requirements.
• Allow new components to be installed as part of planned replacement works, to reduce costs and limit the environmental impact. Reasonable set deadlines for installing certain components could be considered where there are significant safety concerns for residents.
• Provide clear exemptions for properties where needed, particularly for Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards. This is not to help landlords avoid making improvements – social landlords are committed to providing safe, warm and affordable homes for residents. It is important the revised DHS does not excessively increase the rate at which homes are lost from the sector because they are no longer financially viable (which could be an unintended consequence if strict new requirements are introduced without clear exemptions where needed and without sufficient funding).

We therefore need clarity and certainty over the new requirements for social landlords as soon as possible, with the true cost of new requirements assessed in the round and covered through new funding arrangements.

We developed these principles in collaboration with representatives of local authorities, ALMOs, social tenants and the sector’s professional body.

We have already shared these asks with the government and will continue to emphasise the importance of progressing the review of the DHS at pace in future conversations with ministers and advisers. Given the crucial importance and wide-ranging benefits of improving the quality of homes for social residents, it is vital that the government supports social landlords to continue to invest in the condition of existing homes. Committing to the review in PMQs is a good first step, now we need the detail that must sit beneath this commitment.

Related

Please see here for details of our broader asks of the new government.