Decent homes standard

All councils have been set the target of raising the standard of all its properties by the Government. This target, known as the decent homes standard, is driving the Council's Housing Choice programme.

Decent homes – the guidance

The following is a summary of the guidance issued by the then DTLR in March 2002. A decent home meets the following four criteria:

1. It meets the current statutory minimum standard for housing Dwellings below this standard are those defined as unfit under section 604 of the Housing Act 1985 (as amended by the 1989 Local Government and Housing Act)

2. It is in a reasonable state of repair. Dwellings which fail to meet this criterion are those where either:

• one or more of the key building components are old and, because of their condition, need replacing or major repair; or
• two or more of the other building components are old and, because of their condition, need replacing or major repair.

“Old” is further defined in the guidance according to the type of building element (e.g. windows) and the type of building in which that element exists (houses or low- or high-rise flats).

3. It has reasonably modern facilities and services. Dwellings which fail to meet this criterion are those which lack three or more of the following:

• a reasonably modern kitchen (20 years old or less)
• a kitchen with adequate space and layout
• a reasonably modern bathroom (30 years old or less)
• an appropriately located bathroom and WC
• adequate insulation against external noise (where external noise is a problem)
• adequate size and layout of common areas for blocks of flats.

4. It provides a reasonable degree of thermal comfort. This criterion requires dwellings to have both effective insulation and efficient heating.

General principles of application

In applying the decent home standard, social landlords should bear in mind the following:

• It is a minimum standard that all social housing should meet and which can be measured consistently across all social housing stock
• It is a standard that triggers action, not one to which work is necessarily carried out
• Landlords are not expected to make a home decent if this is against a tenant’s wishes as work can be undertaken when the dwelling is next empty; and
• Landlords are not expected to carry out only that work which contributes to making homes decent. For example:
  a) building components may fail “early” – these should be dealt with, typically on a responsive basis;
  b) environmental and security works, which are not included in the decent home standard, may be considered high priority in some areas.

The last two points illustrate the issue that not all work required to the Council’s stock falls into the definition of “decent”.

More information about decent homes can be found on the Communities and Local Government (CLG) website.

Pid No: 129