1 Completing the Programme and maintaining
housing in the long-term
1. The Decent Homes Programme (the Programme), overseen
by the Department for Communities and Local Government (the Department),
aims to improve the condition of homes for social housing tenants
and vulnerable households in private sector accommodation in England.
2. The Department originally set a target for all
social housing in England to be decent by December 2010, and substantial
progress has been made against this. As of April 2009, almost
86% of social housing was decent according to returns from landlords,
with the numbers of non-decent properties falling by 1,100,000
to leave 580,000 properties non-decent. Of these, 182,000 were
Registered Social Landlord properties, representing over 8% of
their stock. These Landlords have reduced the level of non-decency
from a maximum of almost 21% in 2003, mainly at their own cost.[2]
Between April 2001 and March 2008, Arms Length Management Organisations
(ALMOs) and retaining local authorities have installed 810,000
new kitchens, 610,000 new bathrooms and 1,140,000 new central
heating systems. Some 850,000 council homes have been re-wired,
over 1,000,000 have had new windows, and 882,000 have had improvements
to their insulation. There have also been wider benefits in terms
of better housing management, tenant involvement and employment
opportunities.[3]
3. Despite these achievements, the target of 100%
decency by 2010 will not be met. The Department estimates that
92% of social homes will be decent by that date, leaving 305,000
properties non-decent. The number of non-decent properties is
then expected to fall to 124,000 by 2014, and work on the last
of these will not be completed until 2018-19.[4]
4. There is some uncertainty over whether the landlords
concerned will receive the funding they need from the Department
to complete this work. The Department assured us that it is committed
to funding the remainder of the Programme so that all social homes
are decent, but we consider that there is still a risk, given
the likely pressures on future public spending, that such funding
may not be forthcoming.[5]
5. The Government intends that each local authority
and Registered Social Landlord will have sufficient funds available
to them to maintain their housing to the required standard once
the Programme has been completed, without the need for another
large capital programme like Decent Homes. The Department is proposing
to reform the system for financing local authority housing so
that it becomes self-financing, with local authorities keeping
all their rental income and capital receipts for use on their
housing.[6] The Housing
Minister will be announcing more details in March.[7]
However, the reforms are complex, involving a redistribution of
housing debt between local authorities across the country and
a significant increase in the Major Repairs Allowance to free
up funds for maintenance, while at the same time avoiding any
significant increases in rent.[8]
There is a risk that the reforms will not be successful in making
the necessary funds available, resulting in the build-up of another
maintenance backlog.
6. From April 2010 new regulatory standards will
apply for all social housing. While these will require that individual
social housing properties be maintained at least to the Decent
Homes Standard, they will also contain new standards for the maintenance
of communal and external areas. The Department intends that there
should be sufficient funding in the new local authority housing
finance system to allow for the on-going maintenance of these
areas, with backlogs of work on these items to be dealt with by
capital grant programmes.[9]
The Department is also working with the Department of Energy and
Climate Change on its Household Energy Management Strategy
for increasing the energy efficiency of existing housing and is
currently considering how any resulting work on social housing
will be funded.[10]
2 Qq 38 and 48; C&AG's Report, Session 2009-10,
The Decent Homes Programme, HC 212, paras 2.3 and 2.4 Back
3
C&AG's Report, paras 17 and 4.1 Back
4
Qq 17 and 48; C&AG's Report, para 2.6 Back
5
Qq 8, 17 and 21 Back
6
Qq 8-9 and 60 Back
7
Qq 10 and 58 Back
8
Qq 9-10 and 52 Back
9
Qq 44 and 66; C&AG's Report, paras 4.9 and 4.10 Back
10
Q 66 Back
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