What the Social Housing White Paper says about: good quality homes and neighbourhoods

As with so much else in the Social Housing White Paper (SHWP), the genesis of the proposals regarding quality homes and neighbourhoods lies with the fire at Grenfell Tower. As well as the terrible human cost of the fire, it also exposed an approach to building safety that was just not good enough.

During the pandemic and particularly in periods of lockdown, we have seen the value of well-designed and high-quality housing and neighbourhoods. Many of us have been confined to our homes for extended periods, worked from home, often with children; and only allowed to exercise in our local areas. Things that many of us took for granted have been stripped away. As we return to normal, we need to ensure that every individual and household has a home that supports their well-being.

CIH have argued for years that a safe decent home is essential to the good physical and mental health of us all, and that the provision of affordable, high quality housing and neighbourhoods should be a high priority of the government, regardless of political persuasion.

The SHWP commits the government to:

• A review the Decent Homes Standard to consider if it should be updated, including how it can better support the decarbonisation and energy efficiency of social homes, and improve communal and green spaces
• Continuing to engage with the latest evidence on the impact of housing conditions on health, including COVID-19 transmission, and actively consider options to mitigate these impacts
• Reviewing ‘professionalisation’ to consider how well housing staff are equipped to work with people with mental health needs and encourage best practice for landlords working with those with mental health needs
• Clarifying the roles of agencies involved in tackling anti-social behaviour and signpost tenants to those agencies who can give them the most appropriate support and assistance when faced with antisocial behaviour
• Considering the results of the allocations evidence collection exercise findings to ensure that housing is allocated in the fairest way possible and achieves the best outcomes for local places and communities.

Having a ‘decent’ home in a well-designed and maintained neighbourhood is vital to wellbeing and security. We were therefore pleased to see the ‘Building Better, Building Beautiful’ commission report take an expansive view of its brief and make recommendations around ensuring that all public spaces are well designed, maintained and supportive of individual and community well-being. CIH supports the review of the decent homes standard, to update and raise the expectations tenants should have of their landlord.

The proposals outlined above will mean many changes for landlords in providing homes and services.