Good morning.
Housing problems can lead to a host of diseases and mental health problems. Living in poorly maintained, often dangerous conditions, with issues such as mould, damp and collapsed ceilings, can affect relationships, job prospects and, for children, it often negatively affects their educational outcomes. It can make life unbearable and, for those living in social housing, these feelings of powerlessness can be amplified, with local councils and housing associations often subject to accusations of bad service, dismissive attitudes and long delays, despite the fact that they are obliged to ensure that living standards are up to scratch.
But the plight of renters, both private and social, has been pushed up the political agenda in the UK in recent years and this newfound pressure has led to L&Q – one of Britain’s biggest social landlords – being ordered to pay more than £140,000 in compensation because of its negligence towards its tenants. L&Q rents out more than 105,000 homes across the south and north-west of England, and was found to have repeatedly failed “to respond fairly to vulnerable residents, especially where the resident had a disability or mental health problems”.
The special investigation by the housing ombudsman was damning – and for today’s newsletter I spoke to the Guardian’s social affairs correspondent, Robert Booth, about whether it will make a difference. That’s right after the headlines.
Five big stories
US | Federal prosecutors have expanded the indictment against Donald Trump for retaining national security documents and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them, unveiling new charges against him and an employee over an attempt to destroy surveillance footage.
Business | The head of private bank Coutts, Peter Flavel, has been ousted over the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank accounts in a desperate attempt by NatWest to contain a crisis that has wiped £1bn off its share price.
Environment | The era of global warming has ended and “the era of global boiling has arrived”, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, has said after scientists confirmed July was on track to be the world’s hottest month on record. “Climate change is here. It is terrifying. And it is just the beginning,” Guterres said.
Singapore | Saridewi Djamani has become the first woman executed in the city state in almost 20 years. The 45-year-old Singaporean national, who had been convicted of drug smuggling, was hanged early on Friday, according to the Central Narcotics Bureau, against the backdrop of an outcry from human rights groups.
Conservatives | A council in Nadine Dorries’s constituency is demanding that she immediately resign as an MP, saying “residents desperately need effective representation now”. The former culture secretary announced on 9 June that she was standing down as the MP for Mid Bedfordshire “with immediate effect”, but she has yet to formally resign.
In depth: ‘Social housing always comes second – until that changes, the problem won’t be solved’
While it is the biggest payout of its kind awarded by the housing ombudsman to date, monetarily the £140,000 compensation figure is a relatively small amount – especially when compared to L&Q’s surplus in 2022 which sat at £154m. “But what is more significant is the extent of the ombudsman’s criticism of the second biggest social housing landlord in the UK,” Rob says. In its special investigation, the housing ombudsman found that L&Q was “dismissive” of tenants and concluded that the company had demonstrated “severe maladministration” in areas such as tackling disrepair and dealing with antisocial behaviour. The ombudsman noted L&Q’s failure to consistently identify “damp and mould” as a key problem, and came to the damning conclusion that it had managed “a period of significant failure” as a landlord.
The intervention by the housing secretary, Michael Gove – who has taken a particularly strong interest in this issue – after the ombudsman’s findings were made public was equally damning. The minister attacked the management of L&Q and called its chief executive to a meeting with the government. “Gove has taken the view that publicly naming and shaming is a good way of doing two things: improving the standards of social landlords and signalling to voters that he cares, the government cares and they’re doing something about it,” Rob adds. “So this is more significant as a political turn than it is in terms of cash compensation”.
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Will it make any difference?
Millions of people live in social housing, some of them in substandard, unsafe accommodation. So, how much is a stern word from Michael Gove going to do to make life easier for those affected?
“There is a sort of political theatre element to it – although that’s not to say it’s not the right thing to do,” says Rob. “Ever since Grenfell we’ve known nationally, and people living in social housing would have known this before Grenfell, that social housing tenants often get treated very dismissively by landlords when things go wrong. That has developed into a huge cultural problem over many, many years, so it is right and important to call it out and Gove does need to be credited for doing that.”
But that does not address the fundamental issues, which are more to do with the way social housing is financed in the UK. Social landlords tend to use “cross-subsidy” models, meaning that they supplement their income by also developing and renting out more expensive housing, with some also branching out into selling homes for shared ownership. Many have taken their eye off the ball as they have done so, meaning they do not do what they were designed to do in the first place: provide good quality low cost social housing. “The funding from the government to build new social homes is insufficient and so they have to rely on other income streams,” Rob says.
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The impact on tenants
More attention is being paid than ever before to the plight of social housing tenants after the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak and the high profile campaigning of people like Kwajo Tweneboa (pictured above). Tenants are more likely than ever to broadcast their appalling living conditions on social media and TV, so it can certainly feel like the conditions are getting worse.
In reality, things are marginally better than they were a decade ago. The number of people living in non-decent social housing has slightly declined, although around 10% of social renters are still living in non-decent housing, underpinned by public money.
The problems do not end with the most horrifying cases either – it can be the constant niggles that make life incredibly difficult. “There are families dealing with things like laundry damp because people have to hang stuff up all over the place since the heating is not working properly or the ventilation isn’t right,” says Rob. “It can be incredibly stressful. It disrupts family life and makes having a stable, productive existence much harder.” Conditions like this can create a sense of powerlessness, as well as having a significant impact on a person’s quality of life.
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What else is being done?
The Social Housing Act, which gained royal assent last week, should put a greater onus on landlords to respond in a timely manner. There will also be more proactive inspections by regulators of social housing and the bill will seek to ensure that greater qualifications will be demanded of anyone entering the field. “It has become a deeply de-professionalised area,” says Rob. “The purpose of the act is to make it more professional again and ensure people have greater qualifications so that they are actually treating their jobs more seriously”.
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Underlying problems
An estimated 4.2 million people are waiting to be placed in social housing in England alone, but less than 7,000 social houses were built last year. The problem lies somewhere in this discrepancy.
Campaign groups think that we need to be building about 90,000 homes a year to fill in the gap, which would require a subsidy of £15bn a year. While around £12bn a year is going into the affordable homes programme, most of that is not going on low cost social housing, Rob says. “The politics of this always seems to be around home ownership. Political parties, both Labour and Conservative, are focused on boosting it, which is understandable, but that means that fixing the social housing shortage and its quality always comes second. Until that changes, the problem won’t be solved.”
What else we’ve been reading
Sport
Cricket | England scored a rapid 283 at the Oval but were left to rue a couple of mini-collapses as Australia took advantage to trail by 222 at the close of play on day one of the final Ashes test.
World Cup | Argentina and South Africa have settled for an exciting 2-2 draw in their Group G clash that kept both teams alive in the tournament but dented their hopes of progressing. The Matildas were stunned 2-3 by Nigeria to leave the Australian co-host’s hopes in the balance. Portugal’s Telma Encarnação scored one goal and set up the other in a comfortable 2-0 win sending Vietnam out of the tournament.
Swimming | Australia’s swimmers have continued their golden run at the world championships in Japan with Kyle Chalmers claiming the 100m freestyle, Kaylee McKeown the 50m backstroke and the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team setting a world record, bringing their gold medal tally to nine.
The front pages
Our Friday splash in the Guardian print edition is “Era of global boiling has arrived and it is terrifying, says UN chief”. “World enters era of ‘global boiling’ says the i. The Daily Telegraph has a hip-pocket take: “Public must be spared huge burden of net zero, warns Blair”. That “global boiling” hook makes it on to the front of the Metro too but its main story is “Coutts & go” about the bank’s head resigning. No tortured wordplay in the Financial Times: “Flavel resigns as Coutts chief after accepting blame for Farage furore”. The Times has “Migrants set to be housed in marquees for summer”. “New pension triple lock threat” – that’s the Daily Express while the Daily Mail gives its “bent migration lawyers” investigation a rest from page one, opting instead for “Harry’s hacking claim thrown out by court”. The Daily Mirror has an investigation of its own – “Real cost of fast fashion”, about used garments from the UK ending up as a “mountain of toxic waste” in Ghana.
Something for the weekend
Our critics’ roundup of the best things to watch, read and listen to right now
TV
Gaia: A Death on Dancing Ledge (BBC iPlayer)
It has been five years since 19-year-old Gaia Pope (pictured above) was found huddled in undergrowth on a Dorset clifftop after 11 days missing, her cause of death determined by the coroner to be hypothermia. This three-part documentary takes a broader, deeper, and perhaps more humane and meaningful view than a coroner’s job allows, unpacking all that might have led to that lonely death. Lucy Mangan
Music
Dexys – The Feminine Divine
After the release of 2016’s Let the Record Show, Kevin Rowland announced that he was done with music – but now he’s back. At turns discomfiting, brave, baffling and hugely impressive, this is the kind of album that no one would countenance making except him. Even if you’re not a diehard fan, it might leave you glad he chose to continue doing what he alone does. Alexis Petridis
Film
Talk to Me
The Philippou brothers, Michael and Danny, are young film-makers from Adelaide who started as production runners on Australian horror classic The Babadook and achieved a cult following for their film spoofs on YouTube; now with their debut feature they’ve let rip with a blast of wild punk energy and gleeful anarchy. If the Sex Pistols ever directed a version of The Monkey’s Paw, it might look like this. Peter Bradshaw
Podcast
Fiasco: Vigilante
Audible, all episodes out now
Mid-80s New York is the start point for Fiasco’s new season, with Leon Neyfakh’s balanced storytelling at the fore. Crime rates were high, residents lived in fear and vigilantes were on the rise. But when Bernie Goetz shot four innocent Black teenagers, a nation was polarised: cold-blooded racist crime or self-defence? Hannah Verdier
Today in Focus
Why does Nigel Farage’s bank account matter so much?
Since the politician’s account with Coutts was closed, the story has dominated the news agenda. Does it show that something has gone very wrong in our banking system?
Cartoon of the day | Lorna Miller
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
An iconic footballing nation, Brazil is enjoying a revival at the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, with the squad attracting legions of fans from the Brazilian community and putting in an impressive performance on the pitch, too. Speaking to the Guardian’s Júlia Belas Trindade, defender Lauren Costa said the team “felt at home” when met with huge support for their 4-0 win against Panama on Monday in Adelaide. Added Costa: “When I entered the pitch and saw that nearly the whole stadium was Brazilian, wearing yellow and green, it made it much easier. We were able to feel a bit of Brazil here and it made me more comfortable.
Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday
Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until Monday.
