Industry News


Over 600,000 private rentals are poor quality and hazardous to occupants


A


nalysis of the nation’s housing stock has revealed that the private rental sector accounts for a quarter of all poor


housing in England, with excessive cold and the likelihood of falls on stairs representing the biggest risks to tenants. Work undertaken by the Building Research


Establishment shows that around 620,000 private rented homes had one or more Category 1 hazards and it would cost about £2.5 billion to correct all of these faults. Te results are reported in a briefing paper called ‘Te cost of poor housing in England by tenure’. It reveals that the most common hazard in the


private rented sector is unsafe stairs, with around 251,348 properties affected, compared with 80,300 social rented properties similarly affected. Other serious hazards in the private rented


sector include excessive cold (178,541), damp and mould growth (32,701) and overcrowding (16,695 properties). Tese are all ‘Category 1’, the most serious type of hazard defined by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). Category 1 excess cold hazards resulted in a


cost burden to the NHS of around £1.2 billion per annum. Falls on the stairs were, however, the most common hazard, with an annual cost to the NHS of around £271 million. Around a third of homes (32%) in the private


rented sector were built before 1919, and so are more likely to suffer from more serious disrepair and, in terms of retrofitting options, tend


to be more problematic (including more expensive) to treat. Some 40% of private rented homes are flats;


including 11% of converted flats which commonly date from pre 1919 and are more likely to have Category 1 hazards compared with all other types of dwellings. Other key findings about private rentals are: • Te average cost to make all poor housing safer was £4,039.


• Te average repair cost to mitigate excessively cold homes was £6,835.


• Around half (50%) of poor housing could be removed with an investment of under £1,176. Conversely the cost to make homes safe was between £10,000 and £46,343 for the most expensive 10% of homes.


• 70% of the most dangerous stairs could be made safer for under £700.


If all hazards were mitigated now, the payback to the NHS would be realised between eight and nine years. Improving the energy efficiency of excessively


cold homes would realise notable NHS cost savings. On average, an investment of £6,835 would


be required. Under the current Minimum Energy Efficiency


Standards (MEES), landlords can claim an exemption if work to raise the EPC Rating of the dwelling to Band E (the approximate threshold for excess cold) exceeds £3,500 including VAT. Tis


£3,500 ceiling therefore restricts the scope of the MEES regulations. Roughly half of the cold homes require an


investment of £9,000 or more, while conversely roughly a third (30%) require £2,175 or less. Te private rented sector has the largest number


of homes (almost 33,000) that are classified as poor housing due to the most serious damp and mould growth hazards identified by the English Housing Survey. Many of the common barriers in improving


energy efficiency apply to some private landlords: affordability of higher cost improvement measures such as solid wall insulation and availability of suitable qualified installers. For some landlords, there is a potential ‘split


incentive’ whereby landlords are responsible for the cost of energy efficiency improvements, but their tenants are the main beneficiaries, particularly if landlords do not anticipate an equivalent monetary rise in the value of their property. Private renters tend to be younger than


homeowners, with just 8% aged 65 years or over. Tere was, however, an increase in the number and proportion of people aged 55-64 living in the private rented sector, from 7% in 2009/10 to 10% in 2019/20 and an increase in the number of households with dependent children (by about 547,000) over the same period. Older people and young children are the most vulnerable age group for many Category 1 hazards assessed by the HHSRS.


New regulator takes major step forward in ‘landmark moment for building safety’


Tose responsible for the safety of around 12,500 high-rise residential buildings in England have to register with the new Building Safety Regulator by October this year. Te Building Safety Regulator was established


to protect high-rise residents from unsafe building practices in England in response to the Grenfell Tower fire. Under the Building Safety Act, high-rise


residential buildings which are 18 metres tall or higher, or at least seven storeys, with two or more residential units are defined as ‘higher-risk’. Tey all have to be registered in the six months from April 2023, along with a named person responsible for maintaining their safety. A new campaign aimed at owners and managers


of high-rise residential buildings will highlight their new legal duties. It will call on those responsible for the safety management of higher-risk buildings to prepare for a new wave of regulatory change to ensure that they are ready to step up and comply. Te registration process is a crucial


stage in setting up the new building safety regime. Registering buildings in scope will be a legal requirement and owners and managers who fail to comply by October 2023 will be investigated and may face prosecution. HSE Chief Executive Sarah Albon said:


“Tis registration process is an important step towards building a safer future for residents of high-rise buildings. We want it to be clear where responsibility for safety in these buildings lies.”


12 | HMMApril/May 2023 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


“As the Building Safety Regulator, we will draw


from our experience to provide guidance and oversight for the industry and lay the foundation for a world-leading building safety regime, which is a part of our mission to protect people and places.” Chief Inspector of Buildings Peter Baker said:


“Our message is clear – industry must raise its standards and residents of high-rise buildings in England must be kept safe.” “Tis is a landmark moment for building safety,


the information provided through registration will be an invaluable part of our crackdown on unsafe building practices. Tose who are responsible for high-rise residential buildings must register; failure to do so will be against the law.” Building registration is a major step in a package


of measures to ensure high-rise residential buildings are safe for residents and users. It follows the introduction of Planning Gateway


One in August 2021 and will be followed by more robust building control of high-rise developments, and the certification of occupied high-rise buildings by the new Regulator.


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