The Mirror is today calling for urgent action to end the housing hell experienced by millions of people.
Across the country people are trapped in substandard homes - many of which pose a threat to health or life.
The death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died due to mould in a home deemed unfit for human habitation, has shone a light on the terrible state of Britain’s housing stock.
But sadly, very little has changed since and many are still living with issues of mould, severe disrepair and uninhabitable conditions.
Figures released last week found there are 3.4million homes that do not meet the Decent Homes Standard.
This includes an estimated 2.2million properties that have at least one Category 1 hazard and 941,000 that have serious damp.
A Category I hazard is classed as property which poses a risk to health or life because of problems such as mould, asbestos or dangerous electrics.
The Mirror's End Housing Hell campaign is calling for...
- Fines and bans for landlords who fail to meet minimum standards.
- Enforce the Decent Homes Standard and extend it to the private sector
- The building of tens of thousands more social homes
- Give more tenants access to legal aid and improve the inspection regime.
- Raise the Local Housing Allowance to help tenants with the cost of rents.
Our demands are being backed by housing campaigners, tenant groups and MPs. It comes as last week’s annual English Housing Survey found nearly a quarter (23%) of homes in the private rented sector fail to meet decency standards, 14% ware deemed unsafe and more than one in ten (11%) have a damp problem.
The survey also revealed that 732,000 households are living in overcrowded conditions.
Campaigners say tenants are being let down by weak government legislation and poor enforcement.
Decent Homes Standard states a property has to be safe, provide a reasonable degree of thermal comfort, be in a reasonable state of repair and have reasonably modern facilities and services.
But is not enforceable by law and it only applies to social housing and not to private rental accommodation. Opposition MPs are calling for the Government to ensure all rental properties are covered by the Decent Homes Standard.
They also want a tougher inspection regime and more support for tenants who have been failed by the landlords.
This includes giving more people access to legal aid so they can fight their case in the courts.
There is also a major shortage of affordable homes to rent in Britain. and according to the latest Government data there are 1.2million households on the social housing waiting list in England.
There are also more than 96,000 households including 26,000 children aged five and under living in temporary accommodation.
And there are fears more people could be left homeless because of the freeze to the Local Housing Allowance - support for people in private rental accommodation - which has not been raised since March 2020 despite the soaring inflation.
At the moment the regulator has a legally-binding duty to “minimise interference” and is only allowed to investigate cases if there were “reasonable grounds to suspect” a failure by a landlord had resulted in “serious detriment.”
Jessica Hampson of CEL Solicitors said: “Awaab’s tragic death needs to be a wake-up call for the entire housing sector both social and private.
“As a nationwide law firm specialising in housing disrepair I have seen first hand the decline in safety, standards and living conditions and the real and visceral effect this has on families and the community.
“I am urging law makers, the Court system, Judges and the solicitor’s who represent the landlord’s as well as obviously the Government and Landlord’s themselves to start taking the Fitness for Human Habitation Act 2018 seriously and give it some real teeth to tackle the housing crisis and to prevent any more deaths, and I fear there will be more deaths, without real change.
“Now is the time to take meaningful action and I am grateful to this campaign for both shining a light on the deadly consequences of housing disrepair in this country and for lobbying for improvement.”
Shadow Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook MP said: “Labour welcomes the launch of this campaign by The Mirror. All tenants should have the right to a decent, safe, secure, and affordable home.
“Yet the lives of far too many social and private tenants are blighted by poor conditions, and far too many social landlords fail to treat their tenants with the dignity and respect that they deserve”.
“We desperately need to build more social homes, but we also need to overhaul the regulation of social housing and fundamentally reform the private rented sector to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of tenants across the country”.
The Mirror put forward our demands to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to which a spokesperson said:
"Landlords already have an obligation to ensure homes are fit to live in. But we are going further by extending the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector, to give all tenants the legal right to a safe and decent homes.
"We have already strengthened enforcement powers for councils, with fines of up to £30,000 and banning orders for prolific offenders.
“Our Social Housing Bill will also strengthen the power of the regulator so they can issue unlimited fines and make emergency repairs to properties, with landlords footing the bill.”
The Mirror will be highlighting the stories of those affected by severe disrepair, mould, vermin and infrastructural issues until our demands are met and we no longer see cases like that one of innocent Awaab Ishak.
