Directors of public health have welcomed new measures aimed at improving social housing but called for more action to tackle poor conditions in the private rented sector.
Under new regulations from 1 April, social housing landlords will be ‘routinely inspected and held to account’ to ensure they provide residents with quality homes and services.
They will be expected to keep an accurate record of the condition of every home and set clear timelines for the completion of repairs and maintenance.
Tenants will also have to be provided with information about their rights and how to make complaints.
Fiona MacGregor, chief executive of the Regulator of Social Housing said: ‘We welcome the new powers, which will put our consumer regulation on an equal footing with our economic role. We will hold landlords to account for delivering the outcomes of our new consumer standards and drive improvement across the social housing sector, for the benefit of tenants.’
Rachel Wigglesworth, policy lead for Healthy Places for the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH), welcomed the powers but added that more needed to be done to protect private renters.
‘We would also like to see more action to tackle poor conditions in the private rented sector so that everyone can live in housing that promotes good health and wellbeing and prevents people developing avoidable health conditions that not only limit people’s lives and ability to work, but also place demands on our already stretched health and social care services.’
