Decent Homes Background

From 1945-1953 there was a housing ‘boom’ as the Government endeavoured to increase state funding in order to subsidise slum clearing and invest in social housing. However, despite this initial investment, there was a lack of commitment from subsequent Governments and coupled with the underlying perception that people should own their own property, a chronic under investment in council stock prevailed. This deterioration in the stock condition led to the inception of the Decent Homes Standard.

This Green Paper is the first comprehensive review of housing for 23 years. It proposes modernisation and reform across the whole range of issues and the aim is to offer everyone the opportunity of a decent home promoting social cohesion, well-being and self-dependence. It sets out the strategy for housing, covering housing policies and links with the broader social agenda in England and Housing Benefit in Great Britain.

Across all types of housing, owned or rented, private or public, the policies are intended to deliver improvements in quality and a fairer housing market.

The three main challenges that the paper addresses are:

1. Improving the conditions and opportunities of the minority who face severe problems, such as poor conditions in both public and private housing
2. Tackling the more general problems faced by most people at some point in their lives, such as the difficulties that can be encountered in selling and buying a home
3. Achieving this without undermining the successful features of the current system, which delivers decent housing to the majority of people

The Government identified the following key issues behind the Decent Homes Standard:

• Too many live in poor-quality housing or find that their Landlord, private or public, does not provide a proper service

• Many live on estates which have been left to deteriorate for too long, and which contribute to ill health, crime and poverty

• Many families and individuals, including elderly and vulnerable people, live in housing that is not energy efficient and in which it is difficult to keep warm

• Most public-sector tenants have been denied choice, offered housing on a take-it-or-leave-it basis and charged rents that are not comparable for comparable homes

The impact of these problems is as clear as the benefits of decent housing. There are strong associations between poor housing and poverty, deprivation, crime, educational under-achievement and ill health. People are discriminated against in looking for work or using services because of where they live. Whole neighbourhoods suffer from neglect.