An article examined two legislative approaches intended to control housing conditions in the rented sector – the landlords' contractual obligations, and the powers of local authorities. The landlords' covenants were almost totally ineffective, and it therefore rested on local authorities to protect the health and safety of tenants.
Source: Roger Burridge and David Ormandy, 'Health and safety at home: private and public responsibility for unsatisfactory housing conditions', Journal of Law and Society, Volume 34 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Dec
A report (by an official advisory body) examined how design quality and related factors affected the experiences of residents of new housing developments. Residents were overwhelmingly satisfied with their homes, but much less so with the neighbourhood.
Source: Philippa Westbury, A Sense of Place: What residents think of their new homes, Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (web publication only)
Date: 2007-Dec
A report examined progress by housing associations towards the decent home standard. Stock transfer associations tended to make faster progress towards the targets than 'traditional' associations.
Source: Decent Home Standard, Housing Corporation (020 7393 2000)
Links: Report | Housing Corporation press release
Date: 2007-Jul
A government minister admitted that more than half a million families would be classified as living in overcrowded homes if the government were to update its 72-year-old definition of overcrowding. She said that the government was 'very conscious that the present statutory definition was long out of date', and was considering how and when to update the standard. But she said that there was 'no point' in changing the rules until local councils could deal with the problem.
Source: House of Lords Hansard, Debate 11 July 2007, column 1384, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | Inside Housing report
Date: 2007-Jul
An annual report provided a detailed account of living conditions in England in 2005. It covered key policy areas such as: decent homes, vulnerable households, the equality of the local environment, energy efficiency, and disparities in living conditions.
Source: English House Condition Survey: 2005 Annual Report, Department for Communities and Local Government (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report | DCLG press release | Help the Aged press release | Guardian report | Regeneration & Renewal report
Date: 2007-Jun
The fair trading watchdog launched a market study into the housebuilding industry. The study would consider the potential competition and consumer concerns within the market, focusing on two principal areas: delivery of housing - whether land which was suitable for development was being effectively brought through to the planning approval stage, and whether land with planning permission was being converted effectively into homes; and customer satisfaction - the homebuyer's satisfaction with the properties available.
Source: Press release 22 June 2007, Office of Fair Trading (0870 606 0321)
Links: OFT press release | RTPI press release | TCPA press release | Regeneration & Renewal report | FT report
Date: 2007-Jun
Researchers examined the suitability and likely take-up of loans and equity release packages for the purposes of house repairs, maintenance, and improvement in order to reduce the proportion of vulnerable private sector households living in non-decent homes. The loan types that appeared to offer attainable and relatively attractive solutions were those that required no monthly payment and could be carried on until sale or death ? provided that the home-owner was willing to take out a loan in the first place, and had sufficient equity in their home.
Source: DTZ, Loan Finance to Improve Housing Conditions for Vulnerable Owner-occupiers: Evaluation of new forms of finance to meet the PSA7 private sector target for decent homes, Department for Communities and Local Government (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Apr
A report examined how the decent homes programme (to raise all social housing to specified standards of decency by 2010) was being implemented. Most social landlords welcomed the concept of a minimum standard because it introduced clarity for themselves and tenants, and set objective criteria. But there were problems with the reliability of some social landlords' estimates of non-decent homes.
Source: Maggie Davidson and Justine Piddington, Implementing Decent Homes in the Social Sector, Department for Communities and Local Government (0870 1226 236)
Date: 2007-Feb
A report (by an official advisory body) recommended that the government should delay the introduction of energy performance certificates for new homes (as required by a European Union directive) until it had evaluated a number of alternative options for meeting the directive's requirements.
Source: Energy Performance Certificates and Residential Property, Better Regulation Commission (020 7276 2142)
Links: BRC press release
Date: 2007-Feb
A report sought to quantify the impact of the 'Warm Front' scheme on the decent homes target. Over the first five years of the scheme nearly 200,000 dwellings were made decent as a direct result of it. (The Warm Front scheme provides grants for packages of heating and insulation measures to vulnerable households in the owner-occupied and private rented sectors.)
Source: Assessment of the Impact of Warm Front on Decent Homes for Private Sector Vulnerable Households, Department for Communities and Local Government (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Feb
