Decent Homes

In 2002 the Government established a target to ensure that all social housing meets a set decency standard by 2010.  To deliver this, social landlords need to quantify the level of non-decent housing in their stock and develop an investment strategy that tackles and measures progress towards eliminating non-decent homes.  By definition:  ?a decent home is one which is wind and weather tight, warm and has modern facilities?.  To meet this definition, homes must meet current statutory minimum standards for housing. They must:

a)  meet the current statutory minimum standard for housing
b)  be in a reasonable state of repair
c)  have reasonably modern facilities and services, and
d)  provide a reasonable degree of thermal comfort.

For more information on Decent Homes visit ODPM's website

The Government and the Housing Corporation both see Decent Homes as a minimum standard to trigger action.  So it is a very good means of considering wider environmental improvements while tackling the repair and replacement of old building components; the replacement of kitchens and bathrooms; inadequate acoustic insulation; inadequate common areas for flats; and both ineffective insulation and inefficient heating.  Overall, the standard provides the opportunity to ensure a higher quality of life for residents.

The Office for the Deputy Prime Minister, (ODPM) expects all social housing providers to achieve Decent Homes.  This covers all landlords registered with the Housing Corporation including small associations such as Co-ownership Societies, Co-ownership Equity Sharing Societies and Co-operatives.

In addition to complying with the regulatory code, Almshouse Charities and Abbeyfield Societies must also comply with ?The Almshouse Association Standards of Almshouse Management, 2003?, which refers explicitly to the need to achieve Decent Homes through five-yearly inspections and  ?The Abbeyfield Standards?, where there is an expectation that Abbeyfields will achieve Decent Homes.

The Corporation?s annual Regulatory and Statistical Return (RSR)  asks associations for the total number of their properties that fail to achieve Decent Homes.  The Regulatory Code expects associations to monitor their progress towards achieving Decent Homes and associations will be expected to signal in their compliance statement that they are doing so.

The energy, materials and water sections of Green Street all provide assistance on improving the environmental performance of a home when considering achieving Decent Homes.  Delivering Decent Homes will also be important in bringing health benefits to tenants and reducing health inequalities.  This links with the Health and Well-being section of Green Street.

Help in delivering Decent Homes

The Housing Corporation and the National Housing Federation are working together to develop guidance for the sector to deliver Decent Homes.  This includes:

?Understanding Our Assets ? A Self assessment framework for Boards of Housing Associations?.  This is designed to help board members to  assess their asset-management strategies, thus ensuring that their plans and activities incorporate the necessary components to achieve Decent Homes, the requirements of the Corporation?s  Regulatory Code, and the wider sustainable communities agenda.

?Assessing Procurement?.  Ensuring probity and value for money in property development, regeneration and maintenance procurement. A self-assessment framework for Boards of Housing Associations.  This framework, which  should be read in conjunction with the companion asset-management framework,  covers the procurement of maintenance services and ? for developing associations ? new construction.  To download the report click here.

?Managing the Assets? ? A guide for housing practioners, to assist associations in producing and developing asset-management strategies.  Produced by the National Housing Federation (supported by the Housing Corporation), this is available to buy from the NHF - for more information click here

Decent Homes Standard Pilot study ?  Consultants are working with ten housing associations to promote best practice in implementing Decent Homes.  This will raise the profile of Decent Homes to associations through a good-practice publication that gives practical guidance on implementing the standard and the lessons learned from the study.  A dedicated website has been set up to promote the project?s work, which includes support for the DHS pilots and associations in general, through e-correspondence, frequently asked questions, resource information and dissemination of good practice.  To find out more visit the NHF Decent Homes website.

Good Practice Guide for RSLs assessing the performance of their Direct Labour Organisations, (DLOs) ? Direct Labour Organisations operating within associations can play an important part in helping housing associations to achieve Decent Homes and the wider sustainable communities agenda, such as ?Egan?, Best Value and sustainability.  This guide has been produced to help associations to assess the performance of their DLOs.  It identifies current practices of DLOs and provides guidance on the key issues that should be addressed when assessing performance.  To download your copy click here

Complying with Decent Homes - a tool to assist small associations to identify homes that do not comply with Decent Homes has been developed by the University of the West of England (with the support of a Housing Corporation Innovation & Good Practice Grant).  The software enables an association to establish which homes are non-decent, why they are non-decent, and the costs of making them decent. The software is available free by following this link.

Decent Homes Criteria

The components of Decent Homes provide several opportunities for incorporating environmental criteria into refurbishment activities.  In particular, achieving reasonably modern facilities and services, and providing a reasonable degree of thermal comfort, offer the greatest opportunities for improving water and energy efficiency and health and well being.

a)  The home meets the current statutory minimum standard for housing

Currently this means the fitness standard (as defined under section 604 of the Housing Act 1985).  This requirement is the minimum deemed necessary for a home to be fit for human habitation.  For instance it should have a bath or shower and wash hand-basin with hot water and cold water.

From 2004, the Government intends to replace the Fitness Standard with the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), which will assess health-and-safety hazards in the home.

If a house does not meet the minimum standard for housing, opportunities are available to incorporate all the issues addressed in Green Street for greater environmental performance.

b)  The home is in reasonable state of repair

Homes that 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 (i.e. those which, if in poor condition could have an immediate impact on the integrity of the building, such as external walls and central heating boilers); or
• two or more of the other building components, (such as kitchens and central heating distribution system) are old and need replacing or require immediate major repair.

If a house does not meet the criteria, opportunities are available for energy and materials improvement.

Key building components that may need repair or replacement are:

• external walls
• roof structure and covering
• windows/doors
• chimneys
• central-heating boilers
• gas fires
• storage heaters
• electrics

c)  The home has reasonably modern facilities and services

A home is considered not to meet this criterion if it lacks three or more of the following: a kitchen that is 20 years old or less; a kitchen with adequate space and layout; a bathroom that is 30 years old or less; an appropriately located bathroom and WC; adequate noise insulation; and adequate size and layout of common entrance areas for blocks of flats.

If a house does not meet this criterion, opportunities are available for water conservation and materials improvements.

d)  the home provides a reasonable degree of thermal comfort

The thermal comfort criterion requires programmable central-heating systems or electric storage heaters, together with varying levels of insulation depending on the energy source used for space heating.

If a house does not meet this criterion and needs improved insulation, ventilation and heating systems, opportunities are available for energy and materials improvement.

Efficient heating is defined as any gas or oil programmable central heating or electric storage heaters, or programmable LPG/solid fuel central heating or similarly efficient heating systems which may be developed in the future.

For homes with gas or oil programmable heating, it is considered that cavity-wall insulation (if there is a cavity wall to be insulated effectively) or at least 50mm of loft insulation (if there is a loft space) is an effective level of insulation.

For homes heated by electric storage heaters, LPG or programmable solid-fuel central heating, a higher specification of insulation is required.  At least 200mm of loft insulation (if there is a loft) plus cavity-wall insulation (if there are cavity walls that can be insulated effectively).

The standard goes on to suggest that 50mm is a minimum designed to trigger action on the worst housing.  As you will see in Green Street, much higher levels of insulation are suggested to optimise energy efficiency of building types  (200 ? 300mm).

Delivering the Decent Homes target will also be important in bringing health benefits to tenants and reducing health inequalities.  This links with the Health and Well-being section of Green Street.