The MHCLG Select Committee, a cross-party group of MPs, has published the report of its Inquiry into Housing Conditions in the Social Rented Sector. It finds that: “Progress on bringing social homes up to the Decent Homes Standard has almost ground to a halt, with very little improvement since the pandemic.”  The prevalence of non-decent council homes fell by little more than 1% between 2020 and 2024, from 13.7% to 11.7%.  Given this, the Committee questions how well local authorities and housing associations are equipped to meet the new requirements of Awaab’s Law, Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards and the new Decent Homes Standard.  It argues that landlords need early notice of the detail of the roll-out of Awaab’s Law to other hazards. The report also expresses concern that the 2035 deadline for meeting the new DHS provides now guarantee that landlords will make timely progress on implementation, and calls for targets specifying the proportion of the stock that should have been upgraded within a given timescale.

Its most important finding, however, is that: “Even with the Government’s investment in social homes and the changes to the rent settlement, we are concerned that the sector will not have sufficient resources to effectively meet the Government’s new social homes target while also raising standards.”  Consequently, it says: “We recommend that the Government establish a new modern Decent Homes Programme to oversee and support social housing providers to raise the quality and safety of homes over the next decade.”

The full report can be accessed here.