New proposals to force social housing landlords to fix mould in tenant homes should be extended to the private rented sector, say MPS.
The call from the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee comes today after housing secretary Micheal Gove said social housing landlords will have to investigate and fix damp and other hazards in their properties within strict new time limits last week.
The move, called ‘Awaab’s Law’, follows the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak, caused by the damp and mould in his home in 2020, which was managed by Rochdale Boroughwide Housing.
Gove said he would amend the Social Housing Regulation Bill to include new legal requirements for social landlords to investigate hazards within 14 days, start fixing within a further seven days, and make emergency repairs within 24 hours.
Landlords who fail can be taken to court where they may be ordered to pay compensation to tenants.
But the Health and Social Care Committee says private sector tenants should also be covered by this measure to avoid the “catastrophic” impact of poor housing on health, in a report today.
Health and Social Care Committee chair Steve Brine says: “Our report welcomes the government’s plan to introduce Awaab’s law for tenants in the social sector.
“We urge swift action on the outcome of the consultation, but the government must also consider safeguards for tenants in the private sector where risks of damp and mould can pose an immediate danger to health.”
Around 3.6% of properties in the private rented sector have serious, or category 1, damp or hazardous conditions, compared to 0.2% of social housing properties, says the committee’s report, called ‘Prevention in health and social care: healthy places’, which cites data from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Brine adds: “The government has dragged its feet on updating the Decent Homes Standard for the social rented sector and in extending it to cover the private rented sector.
“We’re calling on the government to set out its timetable for doing so without delay.”
Generation Rent policy and public affairs manager Conor O’Shea argues that the UK’s 12 million private tenants must be given the same protection as those in social housing.
O’Shea says: “Awaab’s law must be extended to cover private homes as soon as possible. Issues of damp, mould, fuel poverty and poor insulation are worse in private homes than in any other tenure type.
“Not giving landlords fixed deadlines to deal with potentially deadly issues leaves private tenants the most exposed and least protected.”
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has previously committed to introducing the Decent Homes Standard to private rented sector properties.
