PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(3 December 2024)

Question Asked

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to require building and health and safety standards in (a) emergency and (b) temporary accommodation provided to homeless families.

Asked by:
Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour)

Answer

All tenants deserve a safe and decent home, and the Government is working to improving standards across all sectors with a commitment to introduce a new Decent Homes Standard.

Local authorities must ensure temporary accommodation is suitable and should keep the suitability of accommodation under review. Housing authorities should as a minimum ensure that all temporary accommodation is free of Category 1 hazards as identified by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). To enable effective enforcement, we have given local authorities strong powers, including financial penalties of up to £30,000, extending rent repayment orders and introducing banning orders for the most serious and prolific offenders.

The Renters’ Rights Bill will drive significant improvements to conditions in the private rented sector. Ensuring landlords adhere to a legally binding Decent Homes Standard and extending ‘Awaab’s Law’ to private landlords will significantly reduce the number of poor-quality privately rented homes and empower tenants to raise concerns about damp, dangerous and cold homes.

Through the Bill, the Government has introduced powers to apply the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector, which includes new powers to bring temporary accommodation into scope of the DHS. This will ensure that safe, secure housing is the standard people can expect in temporary accommodation.

The Renters’ Rights Bill will also make it possible to apply Awaab’s Law to temporary accommodation occupied under licence through regulations. We will consult in due course on how best to apply Awaab’s Law to such accommodation occupied under licence to make sure we strike the right balance by providing protections to residents while maintaining ambitions on supply.


Answered by:
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1 January 1970

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