Enforcement
206. The Committee received many representations
to the effect that much better means of enforcement are required
if the Decent Homes target is going to have any real meaning in
the privately rented sector. The Chartered Institute of Environmental
Health (CIEH) explained to us that in the private sector, only
one of the four criteria making up the Decent Homes standard,
namely the fitness standard, later to be the HHSRS, can actually
be enforced:
"there is no enforcement mechanism for achieving
the decent homes standard at the level of the individual dwelling
- the minimum housing standard is one of four components of the
standard. For the standard to be attained, there should be a mechanism
for requiring the achievement of the other elements, such as a
compulsory improvement notice."[182]
Crawley Borough Council reinforced this point:
"the Decent Homes standard is not a statutory
standard and is not enforceable in the same way that the current
fitness standard is. Where finance is not forthcoming, or an owner
occupier or landlord sees no reason to modernise adequate fittings
which fail decent homes standards, there is little a local authority
can do to change the situation."[183]
207. The Committee recommends that Local Authorities
be granted powers of enforcement vis-à-vis private landlords,
as well as funding sufficient to carry out such enforcement.
208. Another crucial point in relation to enforcement
was made by Mel Cairns who argued that the most effective way
of achieving the Decent Homes standard in the privately rented
sector would be to introduce a statutory right for tenants to
a Decent Home, giving tenants the possibility of pursuing failing
landlords in court. Quite apart from the equity of the notion
that tenants should have a statutory right to a Decent Home, an
added advantage of this option is that it would not imply the
provision of public subsidy for private sector housing, and it
would also avoid the situation where Local Authorities bear the
sole burden of enforcement in the privately rented sector.[184]
209. Mel Cairns drew our attention to a very similar
argument which was made by the Law Commission in its 1996 report
"Landlord and Tenant: Responsibility for State and Condition
of Property", where it was argued that the enforcement regime
for the fitness standard (currently one component of the
Decent Homes Standard) should be altered so as to provide a civil
law as well as the existing public law obligation on landlords
to maintain rented properties in a state fit for human habitation.
In other words, the Commission believed that the current public
law provision whereby enforcement powers against landlords failing
on the fitness criterion rest with Local Authorities is inadequate
The Commission stated that:
"The premise on which our proposals for reform
rest is that tenants of residential properties held under short
term leases[185] should
have civil remedies against their landlords if those properties
are not fit for human habitation."[186]
The Law Commission explained that the anomalies in
the current legal framework would not be a cause for concern:
"
if alternative remedies existed in public
law to provide both a means of compensation and of compelling
the landlord to carry out the necessary works. But public law
remedies are not intended for the vindication of individual rights.
[
] Civil and public law remedies should operate in parallel
to achieve their different, if at times overlapping, objectives."[187]
210. Referring to these Law Commission proposals,
Mel Cairns told us that:
"Many in this field would support that proposition.
This would give force to much of what the DHS [Decent Homes Standard]
seeks to achieve by putting a duty on landlords which can be legally
enforceable. Since this implied term would apply to all tenancies
it would therefore also result in making improvements in the private
sector stock."[188]
211. We urge the Government to implement, as soon
as possible, and within a timeframe to facilitate our recommendation
in paragraph 196 above, the Law Commission's recommendation, made
seven years ago, for the creation of a statutory right for tenants
to a home complying with specified minimum standards. Given that
the fitness standard is soon to be replaced by the Housing Health
and Safety Ratings System (HHSRS), we believe the Government should
opt for making the full Decent Homes Standard a statutory right
for tenants, enforceable by them through the courts.
Funding
212. The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health
(CIEH) raised an important point about the Government's prioritisation
of the Decent Homes target in the private sector as opposed to
the public sector, and the apparent lack of commitment to the
Decent Homes standard in the private sector when it comes to funding
and enforcement. The CIEH argued that there has not been an adequate
appraisal and prioritisation of the needs of the two sectors,
and that a more realistic assessment of what can be achieved with
the available funding is badly needed. They pointed out that
"
in many areas of the country, the condition
of the public stock is significantly better than the private stock
in terms of repair, unfitness and decent homes. There seems to
be an almost unspoken assumption that the public sector requires
and deserves more resources than the private sector and this has
been reflected in grant allocations over the last few years."[189]
When giving oral evidence to the Committee, the CIEH
added:
"the amount of resources and attention and effort
that is given to the social sector, which comprises less than
a quarter of the total housing stock, is out of all proportion
to the needs of the private sector."[190]
213. Indeed, from the ODPM's memorandum to our inquiry,
it would appear that the only dedicated funding available for
the Decent Homes Policy in the private sector is an amount from
the Sustainable Communities Plan:
"an extra £30 million would be available
in both 2004/5 and 2005/6 to help authorities support new ways
to fund repairs and improvements to the homes of vulnerable households.
This will be allocated on the advice of the newly established
Regional Housing Boards within the single capital pot, with an
indication that it should be spent on private sector renewal"[191]
In other words, the only source of funding solely
dedicated to dealing with the 1.16 million non-Decent Homes in
the private sector inhabited by vulnerable families is a mere
£30 million per annum: less than £26 per vulnerable
household per year.
214. The Committee agrees with the Chartered Institute
of Environmental Health that there is an urgent need to re-evaluate
the priority given to Decent Homes in the private sector. We urge
the Government to make both statutory changes to tenancy legislation,
and to the enforceability of the target in the private sector,
and to provide sufficient and targeted funding for the standard
to be effectively enforced in the private sector.
174 DEC01, para. 2.7, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
(ODPM). Back
175
I.e. 70% of dwellings occupied
by vulnerable households. Back
176
Q118, Jeff Hollingworth, ODPM. Back
177
DEC56, para 2.08. Mr M Cairns. Back
178
DEC10 para. 7, Crawley Borough Council. Back
179
DEC37, para. 13, Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. Back
180
DEC57, paras 2.2 and 3.1, Riverside Group. Back
181
DEC10, paras. 6 & 11,
Crawley Borough Council. Back
182
DEC37, para. 2. Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. Back
183
DEC10, para. 10, Crawley Borough Council. Back
184
DEC56, para 2.08. Mr M. Cairns. Back
185
A short Lease is defined as being less than seven years. Back
186
The Law Commission, Law Com No. 238, 1996: Landlord and Tenant:
Responsibility for State and Condition of Property. Para 8.10. Back
187
The Law Commission, Law Com No. 238, 1996: Landlord and Tenant:
Responsibility for State and Condition of Property. Para 8.12. Back
188
DEC56, para 2.08. Mr M. Cairns. Back
189
DEC37, para. 7, Chartered institute of Environmental health. Back
190
Q37, Sarah Webb, Chartered Institute of Housing. Back
191
DEC01, para. 6.2, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). Back