Your editorial quoting Sam Johnson-Schlee saying that our ability to trust that our homes will keep us safe is under threat is not news to environmental health officers working in housing (The Guardian view on Britain’s uninhabitable homes: as temperatures rise, a new approach is needed, 23 July). Every day they are faced with homes that contain threats to the health and safety of occupiers – from excess heat or cold, or damp and mould. For many years there has been a lack of resources, including environmental health staff to inspect homes or the political will to tackle the problems on the scale needed.
You are right to suggest that a new approach is required, but we can also learn from the 1970s, when local authorities would take the lead on collective action to improve housing. So councils should be the place to look to get things moving. This will require funding, not only to help homeowners but also to ensure that councils have sufficient staff with the right skills.
After the 1981 English House Condition Survey, which showed the high rate of disrepair in the housing stock, the government introduced generous repair grants, and contributed £1bn through subsidies. The decision to discontinue funding for the private sector housing renewal programme, which had been reduced to £376m in 2009‑10, was a result of austerity. Perhaps Andy Burnham and Angela Rayner need to revisit the past to learn what can be done.
Dr Stephen Battersby
Environmental health and housing consultant (retired)
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