1 Introduction
1. In 2010 the Government's flagship policy programme
to refurbish homes in England up to a minimum standard arrives
at its target completion date. The Government committed itself
in 2000 to bringing all social sector housing up to a prescribed
standard by 2010. Another target was set in 2002 to improve private
sector homes in which vulnerable people lived. The Government
stated in evidence to our inquiry that:
When the decent homes target was set in 2001, the
aim was to eliminate a backlog of disrepair and ensure that no
one was living in a home that was below a basic minimum level
of decency. It was a huge task that was being faced.[1]
2. The Minister called the programme "a
national refurb programme without parallel or precedent [...],
a programme that I am very proud of [...], a programme to which
we are totally committed".[2]
A recent press notice from the Department for Communities and
Local Government (CLG) stated that £33 billion had been spent
over the course of the programme and that by the end of 2010 this
would have risen to £40 billion. It cited some of the tangible
outcomes:
Between 2001 and 2008, we have put 700,000 new kitchens,
525,000 new bathrooms and over 1 million new central heating systems
into council homes. We have re-wired 740,000 council homes to
ensure that they meet fire and safety requirements.[3]
3. The decent homes target was set in the context
of broader government policy on housing. For a decade, housing
policy has been focused on four key priorities, initially framed
in the Green Paper Quality and Choice, A Decent Home for All,
published in April 2000. These four priorities have been: bringing
existing stock up to the decent homes standard; regeneration of
those areas experiencing low demand and particularly challenging
housing conditions; construction of increased numbers of new affordable
housing; and the improvement of housing services. In February
2003 the Sustainable Communities Plan set out the policy
and financial framework for the management of the decent homes
programme. In 2006, From Decent Homes to Sustainable Communities
signalled a shift of focus to new supply and recognised that
only 95% of social stock might meet the decent homes standard
by 2010. The 2007 Green Paper Homes for the future: more sustainable,
more affordable increased the focus on the supply of new homes
and set out the intention to reform the council housing finance
system to enable delivery of the decent homes standard in the
longer term.
The Report of the ODPM Committee
in 2004
4. In 2004 our predecessor Committee, the Office
of the Deputy Prime Minister: Housing, Planning, Local Government
and the Regions (ODPM) Committee, conducted an inquiry into the
decent homes programme in light of the interim target that had
been set: to reduce by one-third the number of non-decent homes
in the social sector by April 2004. The Report considered the
adequacy of the decent homes standard and its definition of decency;
the progress made towards the 2010 target and the measurement
of that progress; the mechanisms for managing the programme through
various landlord arrangements in the social sector; and the differences
between the application of the standard to the social and private
sector.
5. While welcoming and supporting the target,
the Committee concluded that it was in danger of not being met.[4]
It also highlighted three particular concerns. First, that the
standard was too basic, and by 2010 would be "seriously out
of step with reasonable tenant expectations"; the Committee
recommended that the Government "set a more aspirational
'Decent Homes Plus' standard to be achieved at a later date".
Second, that the policy was being used "in a dogmatic quest
to minimise the proportion of housing stock managed by Local Authorities";
the Committee recommended that the Government "provide a
level playing field in terms of funding" so that tenants
and local authorities "have real choices". Finally,
the achievement of the target for the private sector should be
given "much higher priority" by the Government.[5]
The Government responded to say that it would "be unfair
and unreasonable to try and tackle even more dwellings" under
a Decent Homes Plus standard while many homes still had not been
brought up to the basic standard.[6]
On ownership and management of homes, it said that separation
of strategic and day to day management of housing by councils
"provides a strong incentive to better performance"
and that the Government had "shown [its] commitment to council
housing through the 13 per cent real terms increase in average
investment per dwelling between 1997 and 2006" and "a
6 per cent real terms increase in local authority management and
maintenance allowances in 2004-05 and 2005-06".[7]
Finally, the Government stated that it attached "high priority
to Decent Homes in the private sector".[8]
6. The current Committee decided in 2009 that,
given the impending 2010 deadline for the decent homes target
to be achieved, it was an appropriate time to consider what lessons
had been learnt and what the future direction of the policy should
be after 2010. Our inquiry has had a different focus from that
of our predecessor Committee, partly by virtue of coming five
years later in the programme but also because we have concentrated
on the future of the decent homes programme. Where we consider
the performance of the programme to date, we do so in the context
of seeking to learn lessons for the future. The evidence we have
received has, of necessity, echoed some of the evidence on which
the ODPM Committee's Report was based. Nonetheless, we have sought
to focus our inquiry on the questions of whether and how the programme
should change or be extended after 2010.
7. We announced our inquiry on 22 July in the
following terms:
In 2000 the Government committed itself to bringing
all social housing up to a decent standard by 2010. In 2002,
the Government broadened this target to include private sector
homes occupied by vulnerable households. On 21 July 2009, the
Government published a consultation paper on its plans to reform
council housing finance, including proposals to complete the
Decent Homes programme and maintain the standard. Against this
background, the Committee's inquiry will consider what steps the
Government needs to take to ensure that decent housing standards
are met and sustained after 2010. Questions the Committee will
consider include:
What lessons can be learned from the Decent Homes
programme and equivalents in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?
Where targeted housing fails to reach the Decent
Homes criteria by 2010, how should this backlog be addressed?
Should minimum acceptable social housing standards
be amended to take account of environmental standards, fuel poverty
and the estate?
Do the management organisations—councils, including
via ALMOs, and housing associations—need to change? Will
they have sufficient funds?
What are the implications for decent housing standards
of the Government's proposal, currently out for consultation,
to move to a devolved system of council housing finance?
How should the Decent Homes target for private sector
homes occupied by vulnerable people be taken forward?
Are adequate arrangements in place for the future
regulation of minimum acceptable housing standards?
Are there local examples of innovative best practice
with wider post-2010 applicability?[9]
8. We received 60 written submissions and have
held five oral evidence sessions, taking evidence from 25 organisations
as well as from Rt Hon John Healey MP, Minister for Housing and
Planning, Communities and Local Government, the Tenant Services
Authority and the Homes and Communities Agency. We visited Stockport,
where we were hosted by Stockport Homes and Stockport Metropolitan
Borough Council and had the opportunity both to see the decent
homes work carried out in the area and to meet those involved
locally.[10] We are grateful
to all those who submitted evidence to our inquiry, to our hosts
and the participants in our visit, and to our Specialist Adviser,
Steve Partridge from the Chartered Institute of Housing.[11]
1 CLG, Ev 165. Back
2
Q 354 Back
3
"Minister launches full assessment of the decent homes programme",
CLG Press Notice, 8 December 2009. Back
4
ODPM: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Committee,
Fifth Report of Session 2003-04, Decent Homes, HC 46, Summary. Back
5
Ibid. Back
6
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Government Response to the
ODPM: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Committee's
Report on Decent Homes, Cm 6266, July 2004, p. 5. Back
7
Ibid., p.10. Back
8
Ibid., p. 20. Back
9
"New Inquiry and Call for Evidence", Communities and
Local Government Committee Press Notice, Session 2008-09, 22 July
2009. Back
10
The note of our visit is annexed to this Report. Back
11
Mr Partridge declared the following interests at the meeting of
the Committee on 20 July 2009: that he had been Non-Executive
Director, Solihull Community Housing Ltd (Arms Length Management
Organisation) since 2003; from 1 August he would be Director of
Financial Policy and Development at the Chartered Institute of
Housing. Back
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