Royal Assent of the Social Housing Regulation Act is a historic moment for England’s nearly nine million social renters, says Shelter
Posted 20 Jul 2023
Royal Assent of the Social Housing Regulation Act is a historic moment for England’s nearly nine million social renters, says Shelter
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “The passing of the Social Housing Regulation Act is a historic moment for the nearly nine million people who live in social homes in England. Six long years on from the Grenfell Tower fire, this legislation is the result of tireless campaigning by Grenfell United and other activists to improve the way social tenants are treated.
“The landmark legislation means social landlords must be professionally qualified and can be properly held to account for the homes they let out. The Act should mark a step change in ensuring tenants have homes which are fit to live in, and that nobody’s life is put at risk, as has happened too many times before, from Grenfell to the tragic death of Awaab Ishak.
“As we look to the future, it is important to remember that stronger regulation alone cannot fix this country’s serious housing problems. Social housing has a vital role to play in providing decent, secure homes that are genuinely affordable for people, but to do that it desperately needs more government investment to both improve the existing homes and build new ones.”
The below statistics demonstrate some of the common problems that social tenants face, which the Social Housing Regulation Act should help to address:
Conditions and maintenance:
Three in ten (29%) social tenants are dissatisfied with how their landlord dealt with a repair in the last 12 months.
10% of homes in the social housing sector fail to meet the Decent Homes Standard, compared with 23% of homes in the private rented sector and 13% among owner occupied homes.
Almost one in ten (8%) social tenants feel their home is unsafe. Of those who feel their home is unsafe, over half (56%) say this is due to mould, damp or condensation, one in six (17%) say this is due to electrical wiring and one in ten (11%) say this is due to a fire risk.
Social housing supply:
Just 7,500 new social rent homes were delivered last year, while more than one million households are stuck on social housing waiting lists in England
We lose more social homes than we build due to demolition and sales – there was a net loss of 14,100 social homes in 2021/22 in England
ENDS
Notes to editors:
There are 8.87 million people renting from a local authority or housing association in England. Data is available at: DLUHC, English Housing Survey 2021 to 2022: headline report, Annex Tables 1.1 and 1.3
29% of social tenants were dissatisfied with the service they received when they reported a repair to their landlord in the last 12 months. Data is available at: DLUHC, Social Housing Quality Programme – Residents Survey Report, December 2022
10% of homes in the social rented sector fail to meet the Decent Homes Standard. Data is available at: DLUHC, English Housing Survey 2021 to 2022: headline report, Annex Table 2.3
8% of social tenants were dissatisfied that their home was safe to live in. Data is available at: DLUHC, Social Housing Quality Programme – Residents Survey Report, December 2022
In 2021/22 7,528 social rent homes were delivered in England. Data is available at: DLUHC, Live tables on affordable housing supply, Table 1006C
In 2022 there were 1,206,376 households on social housing waiting lists in England. Data is available at: DLUHC, Live tables on rents, lettings and tenancies, Table 600
To calculate the estimated net loss of social housing we have compared the number of social rent homes completed with the number of social homes lost through sales and demolitions. 21,638 social homes were either sold or demolished in 2021/22, including 18,881 sales and 2,757 demolitions. We have excluded low-cost homeownership from the total sales figure and have assumed that social housing sales and demolitions were previously let at social rent. Sales and demolitions data is available at: DLUHC, Live tables on social housing sales, Table 678 and 684.