Tories blasted as 1 in 10 social housing residents claim to live in unsafe homes

19 August 2023 , 16:20

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Social housing is a growing issue (Image: Getty Images)

The Tories were last night blasted for the huge number of social housing tenants living in hazardous homes.

One in 10 told a survey by homeless charity Shelter that their houses were unsafe. More than half cited problems with damp and mould, and 11% fear dodgy ­electrics could spark a fire. The scandal comes as we reveal today a family of seven is living in a tent, claiming a rat infestation drove them out of their four-bed home.

It also follows years of cuts to social housing since a Conservative-led coalition took power in 2010. Labour ’s Lisa Nandy called the figures “scandalous”. The Shadow Housing Secretary said: “The scale of the problem is shocking and proves that measures to treat social housing tenants with more respect are long overdue.

“Labour will introduce a warm homes programme, update the Decent Homes Standard and give greater rights and protections to renters.” Latest figures show 8.87 million households rent from a local authority or housing associations in England. Of those, 29% were not satisfied after requesting a repair job in the last 12 months. Some 10% of properties also failed to meet the Decent Homes Standard last year – and 1.2 million were stuck on social housing waiting lists.

Lisa Nandy (Newcastle Chronicle)

In 2010, the Tories slashed funding for subsidised housing by 60% and redirected the rest to more expensive “affordable rent” housing. The cuts took years to filter through, while projects funded under Labour were completed. Forty authorities in England neither built nor acquired new social rent hous-ing from 2016-17 to 2020-21.

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Last month, the Social Hous-ing Regulation Act was passed to ensure landlord scrutiny. Shelter’s Polly Neate welcomed it but said: “We need more than strong regulation for social housing to play its part in fixing the housing emergency. Good-quality social housing is the only way to provide the secure, genuinely affordable homes we need. No one’s home should put their health at risk.”

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities said: “It is unacceptable so many tenants continue to live with unsafe conditions. Our landmark Act is now law, meaning rogue landlords can no longer hide from their responsibilities and must act quickly”

Saskia Rowlands