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Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023

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Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act to make provision about the regulation of social housing; about the terms of approved schemes for the investigation of housing complaints; about the powers and duties of a housing ombudsman appointed under an approved scheme; about hazards affecting social housing; and for connected purposes.
Citation2023 c. 36
Introduced byMichael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Commons)
The Baroness Scott of Bybrook, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Social Housing and Faith (Lords)
Territorial extent England and Wales
Dates
Royal assent20 July 2023
Commencement20 July 2023
Other legislation
Amends
Status: Current legislation
History of passage through Parliament
Records of Parliamentary debate relating to the statute from Hansard
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 (c. 36) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which introduced new measures to improve the standards, safety and operation of social housing. The bill was introduced in the House of Lords on 8 June 2022 and received royal assent on 20 July 2023.[1]

Described by the government as a "landmark law",[1] the act makes changes following the Grenfell Tower fire and the Death of Awaab Ishak.[2]

Background

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The years prior to the passing of this act saw some of the most serious events in social housing.[3]

The Grenfell Tower Fire in June 2017, which caused 72 deaths,[4] brought significant attention and criticism to the standards and safety of social housing,[5] as well as accusations of not listening to tenants' concerns and complaints.[6]

In August 2018, the government published the Social Housing Green Paper: A New Deal for Social Housing, alongside a public consultation which ran August-November 2018.[7] Proposals centred on "rebalancing of the relationship between residents and landlords", ensuring social homes are safe and decent, whilst issues are resolved and residents’ voices are heard.[8] Following this, in November 2020, the Charter for Social Housing Residents: Social Housing White Paper was published.[9] The paper set out the key measures for changing and strengthening the regulatory regime, that the government intended to implement, stating many of the changes would require legislation.[10]

Social housing made the headlines again, in March 2021, when ITV News broke a story of "appalling" conditions in council housing.[11] The story led to a year-long investigation by the news channel, which highlighted that the poor conditions were far more widespread, affecting "thousands" of social housing tenants.[12] The exposure and the scale of the failings, found by the ITV investigation, led to an MP's inquiry.[13][14] The Regulation of Social Housing Inquiry was launched in November 2021 and published their report on 20 July 2022.[13]

In November 2022, a critical coroner's report was published, following the death of toddler Awaab Ishak two years earlier. The cause of death being prolonged exposure to mould in his home, added further momentum to social housing reforms. Michael Gove the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities responded by admitting the government had been too slow to toughen the regulation of social housing.[15] Gove later announced, in January 2023, that he had plans for 'Awaab's Law', through an amendment to this Bill. Changes would relate to hazards (such as mould) in social homes and their remedy within specified time limits.[16]

Overview

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The passing of this act has been described as "the most significant reform of the sector in more than a decade".[17] With other housing advocates making comments such as:

The passing of the Social Housing Regulation Act is a historic moment for the nearly nine million people who live in social homes in England.[18]

— Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter

The act is intended to enable a new, proactive approach to regulating social housing landlords, ensuring standards are met on matters such as safety, transparency and tenant engagement. There will be new enforcement powers to take action against failing landlords. The Act itself describes its intent as being to “reform the regulatory regime to drive significant change in landlord behaviour”.[19]

The main measures in the act are:[1]

  • strengthening the Regulator of Social Housing to carry out regular inspections of the largest social housing providers and the power to issue unlimited fines to rogue social landlords
  • additional Housing Ombudsman powers to publish best practice guidance to landlords following investigations into tenant complaints
  • powers to set strict time limits for social landlords to address hazards such as damp and mould ('Awaab's Law')
  • new qualification requirements for social housing managers
  • introducing stronger economic powers to follow inappropriate money transactions outside of the sector

Measures

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Main measures expanded.

Strengthening the regulator

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A big reform is the removal of the 'serious detriment test'.[20] The previous measure, in the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008,[21] is removed by Section 26 of this Act. Previously, this ‘test’ was a barrier to the Regulator of Social Housing getting involved unless they had reason to believe residents were at risk of a ‘serious detriment’. Removing this means that, not only is there is no longer a threshold for reactive enforcement, but there can now be a proactive monitoring of the standards. In practice, this would mean regular planned, or short-notice inspections, in the style of Ofsted, with as little as 48-hours’ notice.[22]

Where the regulator does find breaches of standards, the £5,000 limit[23] on the fines, which can be imposed, is amended by Section 36 and Schedule 3, paragraph 6 of this Act to be ‘unlimited’.[22]

Awaab's Law

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For broader coverage of the reasons for this law, see Death of Awaab Ishak.

'Awaab's Law' is at section 42 of the act, and although the act, as a whole, applies to England and Wales, this part applies to England only.[24] It also only covers social housing, so does not extend to the private rented sector, although there have been calls for it to do so.[25]

Awaab's Law was an addition to the originally tabled Bill, through an amendment added on 10 February 2023.[26] The amendment was laid by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove and, in an announcement of the move, Gove explained the new law, in memory of Awaab Ishak, will "force social landlords to fix their homes within strict new time limits".[27] The law is worded to cover ‘remedying of hazards’, so 'hazards' will include more than just damp and mould. Prescribed hazards are currently listed as part of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS),[28] so could include other matters such as hot or cold temperatures, excessive noise, poor lighting and so forth, where it is hazardous to an occupant's health.[29]

The act is the means of implementation of these measures, rather than the measures themselves, so changes do not come into force with the passing of the act. They take the form of an amendment to the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 which will empower the Secretary of State to make secondary legislation which will bring detail and the measures into force at a later date.[30]

As of August 2023, the next step to bring Awaab's Law into effect, will be for the government to publish a consultation. The government have said this will take place before the end of 2023. It will help decide and set the timescales within which social landlords will have to act to investigate hazards and make repairs. It will also inform how the legislation is best implemented. These timescales, although yet to be decided, have been suggested to be of the order of fourteen days to investigate and a further seven days to carry out the necessary repairs.[29] Once decided, the detail and rules will then be set out in secondary legislation to form part of an occupant’s social housing tenancy agreement, so tenants can hold landlords to account through the courts, for breach of tenancy, if they fail to provide a decent home.[30]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Press release - Landmark Social Housing Act receives Royal Assent to become law". GOV.UK. 20 July 2023.
  2. ^ "New social housing law after Grenfell fire and toddler death". BBC News. BBC. 21 July 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  3. ^ Eastwood, Paul (29 March 2023). "Comment - What's gone wrong with social housing?". RSA. Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Grenfell Tower fire: Who were the victims?". BBC News. 30 May 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  5. ^ Temple, Mike (25 June 2017). "Grenfell Tower tragedy shows social housing system has failed UK citizens". The Guardian. No. Letters. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  6. ^ "Concerns raised about Grenfell Tower 'for years'". BBC News. BBC. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  7. ^ "News story - Social housing green paper: a 'new deal' for social housing". Gov.uk. Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. 14 August 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  8. ^ "A new deal for social housing" (Green Paper). Gov.uk. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. August 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Policy paper - The charter for social housing residents: social housing white paper". Gov.uk. Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  10. ^ "The Charter for Social Housing Residents: Social Housing White Paper" (White Paper). Gov.uk. Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  11. ^ Hewitt, Daniel (22 March 2021). "'The worst I've ever seen': The appalling and 'unliveable' council housing conditions some have endured during lockdown". ITV News. ITV. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  12. ^ "The year-long investigation that uncovered unlivable conditions in Britain's social housing". Here's the story - ITV News. ITV. 21 March 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  13. ^ a b Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee (20 July 2022). "The Regulation of Social Housing - First Report of Session 2022–23". UK Parliament. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  14. ^ "Mum tells MPs she'll 'never be the same' after being forced to live in damp and mouldy home". ITV News. ITV. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  15. ^ Brown, Mark; Booth, Robert (15 November 2022). "Death of two-year-old from chronic mould in flat a 'defining moment', says coroner". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  16. ^ Walker, Amy (14 January 2023). "Government announces plans for Awaab's Law after toddler's tragic death from damp and mould". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  17. ^ Fox, Aine (20 July 2023). "New legislation 'should mean nobody's life is put at risk' in social housing". The Independent. Independent Digital News & Media Ltd. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  18. ^ Neate, Polly (20 July 2023). "Royal Assent of the Social Housing Regulation Act is a historic moment for England's nearly nine million social renters, says Shelter" (Press release). Shelter. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  19. ^ "Social Housing (Regulation) Bill [HL] - EXPLANATORY NOTES". www.parliament.uk. UK Parliament. 8 June 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  20. ^ Bhakta, Tarun (30 March 2022). "What's in the Social Housing Regulation Bill? Five key changes and what they mean". Shelter. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  21. ^ "Housing and Regeneration Act 2008: Section 198A", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 2008 c. 17 (s. 198A), retrieved 12 August 2023, The failure has resulted in a serious detriment to the registered provider's tenants
  22. ^ a b "'Ofsted-style' inspections and unlimited fines for failing social landlords". Gov.uk (Press release). Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. 8 June 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  23. ^ "Housing and Regeneration Act 2008: Section 229", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 2008 c. 17 (s. 229), retrieved 12 August 2023, The amount of a penalty imposed on the ground specified in any other Case of that section may not exceed £5,000.
  24. ^ "Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023: Section 42", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 2023 c. 36 (s. 42), retrieved 7 August 2023, Section 42, paragraph 10A(1)(a) refers
  25. ^ Lawson, Alex (21 February 2023). "Charity calls for 'Awaab's law' to be extended to private rental sector". The Guardian. Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  26. ^ House of Commons (10 February 2023). "Social Housing (Regulation) Bill [HL], As Amended (Amendment Paper)" (PDF). UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  27. ^ "Government to deliver Awaab's Law". Gov.uk (Press release). Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. 9 February 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  28. ^ "The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (England) Regulations 2005: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2005/3208 (sch. 1), retrieved 7 August 2023, Matters and Circumstances
  29. ^ a b Khan, Henna (2 June 2023). "Awaab's Law- changes to the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill". Trowers & Hamlins. Trowers & Hamlins LLP. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  30. ^ a b "February 2023 – update on government's work to improve the quality of social housing". Gov.uk. Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. 28 February 2023. p. Awaab's Law. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
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