Social housing tenants living in homes ‘unfit for human habitation’, MPs warn

Social housing in England has deteriorated so badly that some homes are now “unfit for human habitation”, according to group of MPs calling on the government to improve conditions.

MPs on the levelling up, housing and communities committee urged ministers to commit more funding for regeneration projects, and demanded that social housing providers “up their game”.

In a damning report, the committee said too many social landlords were stigmatising their tenants and leaving them in “appalling conditions and levels of disrepair”.

Social housing providers should face tougher action from a far more active regulator, MPs said – calling on the government to give the ombudsman the power to award far higher levels of compensation to tenants.

The cross-party group recommended that the government empower the sector’s regulator to order providers to award compensation of up to £25,000.

Labour MP Clive Betts, committee chair, said too many social housing tenants were living in “uninhabitable homes and experiencing appalling conditions and levels of disrepair – including serious damp and mould”.

Mr Betts said the poor handling of complaints by some providers was adding “insult to injury”, warning that delays in fixing problems were contributing to levels of disrepair.

“Sadly, beyond the distress of experiencing poor living conditions, it is undeniable that tenants also face poor treatment from providers who discriminate and stigmatise people because they are social housing tenants,” he said.

“This must change,” the Labour MP added. “Providers need to up their game, treat tenants with dignity and respect, and put tenants at the centre of how they deliver housing services, including by regularly monitoring the condition of their housing stock.”

The MPs’ report also pointed out that the sector is under serious financial pressure, with an acute shortage of social housing.

Warning that some buildings were “never built to last” and were coming to the end of their life, the report recommends the government commits to a major boost in funding for regeneration projects.

MPs also recommended that providers are forced to support the set of genuinely independent tenant associations, calling on the government to establish a national tenant body to drive up standards.

The report also criticises the current regime for regulating the quality of social housing. Since 2011, the Regulator of Social Housing has been prevented by the existing “serious detriment” test from proactively regulating standards.

The report welcomes the fact that the government is legislating through the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill to repeal the “serious detriment” test, as MPs hope it will remove a significant barrier to more proactive regulation.

The report calls for the “passive” regulator to be more proactive in defending the interests of tenants and calls on it to make more use of its enforcement powers, especially in the most serious cases.

A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “We’re taking action to improve social housing through our new bill. This will give the regulator and Housing Ombudsman more powers, including unlimited fines from the regulator for landlords who fail tenants.

“The biggest suppliers will also be regularly inspected and complaints dealt with quickly and fairly, meaning more people will live in decent and well looked after homes.”

Candidates have had little to say about social housing or the problems of private tenants in the Conservatives’ leadership contest, with Liz Truss and Penny Mordaunt appealing to homeowners in the Tory shires by vowing to ditch housebuilding targets.

It comes as fears grow that the Tory hopefuls are willing to row back on Boris Johnson’s levelling up agenda and commitment to invest more in the north and Midlands.

The shadow communities secretary Lisa Nandy said the contest to succeed Mr Johnson at No 10 has been the “final nail in the coffin” for the levelling up policy.

“I don’t think Rishi [Sunak] would ever have committed a bunch of funding to it if it wasn’t for Johnson,” one official from Michael Gove’s levelling up department told Politico. “Gove was always going to be a high-water mark – the drop-off will now be massive.”