Long way to go: the Regina Road council blocks shocked the nation with the leaks, damp and mould
Measures to improve the state of social housing and to guarantee tenants a decent place to live have been announced this morning by the government – 15 years after similar proposals were first agreed.
Michael Gove, as the Levelling Up minister, appears to have cleared a legislation blockage that was created by “Big” Eric Pickles and Grant Shapps soon after the Tory-led coalition government took office in 2010. Even something as shocking as the Grenfell tragedy in 2017 could not shame the Conservatives into more urgent action.
But one year on from Croydon being shamed over “the worst housing in Britain” in council flats in Regina Road, tenants ought not get too excited at the prospect of Gove leading the cavalry charging to their rescue. The measures introduced today include very modest targets, with the government stating it wants “to halve” the “number of non-decent homes” with a target date of only 2030, eight years away. That probably reflects the scale of the disrepair problems in the nation’s social housing stock.
But there is a factsheet. And social media.
In common with much of the shocking coverage of squalid housing conditions in the last 12 months, the government’s focus is entirely on social housing, that provided by councils and housing associations. Today’s measures will do nothing for tenants of private tenants, who presumably are all complete paragons of virtue when it comes to providing sub-standard accommodation.
Gove’s Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Department, together with the Housing Ombudsman and the Regulator of Social Housing – all bodies which exist and have presided over the decay and disrepair of thousands of homes – are promising to “name and shame” failing social housing providers as part of what they call “major reforms to give residents a stronger voice and drive up standards”.
Coming to a Twitter account near you: gurning Michael Gove
What that amounts to is Whitehall threatening housing associations and councils, such as Croydon, with the power of their Twitter account. “Today’s move means social landlords providing sub-standard housing and services would be publicly called out on the government’s website and across social media channels,” they say.
Nothing announced today will address the fundamental issue: the lack of available social housing at truly affordable rents, something which successive governments have dodged, while continuing to flog off public-owned housing stock under a flagship Thatcherite policy.
Maybe the act of greatest cynicism today has been the timing of the announcement, one day after almost all local councils in England have entered their pre-election purdah period, and therefore effectively gagged from reacting or responding to the new measures. The likelihood that the “naming and shaming” will be a government-funded stick with which to beat Labour local authorities cannot be discounted.
Among those measures announced today is a Resident Panel “that will allow tenants who live in social housing to be heard directly by government”.
The DLUHC announcement says, “Around 250 social tenants from across England will be invited to share their experiences and help us ensure our reforms work to drive up standards.
“As set out in the Social Housing White Paper, our reforms… will transform the experiences of residents, with a major reform of the way in which social landlords are regulated and held to account for the homes and services they deliver.”
The government is promising “tougher consumer powers”, and “greater enforcement tools to tackle failing landlords”.
Unaddressed: today’s announcement does nothing to increase the amount of social housing available
Oh, and “a new factsheet” and web page. Which will be nice.
But beyond that, the view of those working in the housing sector is that this is all pretty thin stuff, especially since the Tory government has been sitting on similar proposals, and more, since 2010.
“I will keep the bunting in a drawer until we actually have a Bill ready to go,” was the reaction of one housing professional after the government slipped its announcement out in the wee small hours this morning.
A new social housing regulatory system was developed in the last years of Gordon Brown’s government. The system was ready to go live which would have included strong consumer regulation (checking homes were in good order and that tenants were properly involved). But when Pickles and Shapps ditched the proposals after the 2010 election, “What we were then left with was an unbalanced system in which the finances and governance of housing associations were closely regulated, but consumer regulation was very weak, and no one was really looking at councils,” our source said.
“The Regulator could only get involved if they could show ‘serious detriment’. That’s a threshold that Croydon and a few other landlords have managed to breach, but you have to be spectacularly useless to do that.
“After Grenfell, part of the government’s response was to promise better regulation, but they have been inordinately slow making it happen. They only got round to a White Paper in the autumn of 2020, and we still don’t have a timetable for the legislation needed to put it into effect.
“Today’s draft legislation doesn’t change that, there is still no timetable even for introducing the Bill, let alone for enacting it or doing the more detailed work the Regulator will need to enable the system to go live.”
The government has placed the regulatory work in the hands of Eddie Hughes, their Minister for Social Housing. “Everyone in this country deserves to live in a safe and decent home,” Hughes said.
Factsheet boss: Tory minister Eddie Hughes
“It is unacceptable that anyone should have mould covering their walls, risk slipping on a wet floor or have water dripping from the ceiling.
“This package will help to deliver on our commitment in the Levelling Up White Paper to halve the number of non-decent rented homes by 2030.”
The Resident Panel will be supported by a national survey. Over the next four weeks, around 5,000 residents will be asked to share their views about their landlords’ services. “The survey will be used to monitor the impact our reforms will have on social housing residents.”
- Click here to see the latest findings from the Housing Ombudsman Service.
- And click here to see the government’s new factsheet on the Housing Ombudsman, and Regulator of Social Housing.
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
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Here we go again – IC’s in a pickle about Eric. For the record, to make things clear – Eric Pickles is fat. Very fat. Not big.
As you say no mention of providing more social housing or making rents fairer.We need more houses to be built for rented accommodation.Will never happen under a Tory government when you have flats going up in Croydon for sale at at least 300.000 pounds.
I have to say that the name and shame on twitter is at least an outlet if not much practical use in compelling change. Along with the Freedom of speech changes there is a definite ability now to actually name shame and display evidence of all the Private landlords misdeeds along with the Councils assistance at the time and where turned over by said Landlord ”retrospectively” to allow them to continue doing the same.
The generalistic view of social media being fake news (although there is some) will take a hit when concrete evidence is displayed for all to see.
Can i ask that anyone who gets a a survey to send said survey to me via editor. I would like to make this available to every tenant of a Private Landlord in Croydon also and am happy to collate all those results and write it up.
I have to say that the name and shame on twitter is at least an outlet if not much practical use in compelling change. Along with the Freedom of speech changes there is a definite ability now to actually name shame and display evidence of all the Private landlords misdeeds along with the Councils assistance at the time and where turned over by said Landlord ”retrospectively” to allow them to continue doing the same.
The generalistic view of social media being fake news (although there is some) will take a hit when concrete evidence is displayed for all to see.
Can i ask that anyone who gets a a survey to send said survey to me via editor. I would like to make this available to every tenant of a Private Landlord in Croydon also and am happy to collate all those results and write it up.