Transcript Housing Conditions: Private Rights and Public Health

10th Annual ‘Thomas Fresh’
Lecture
Housing and Health – Is
unhealthy housing a failure
of the state or the market?
Dr Stephen Battersby
President, CIEH
Examples of
unhealthy/unsafe housing
Number of people killed or
injured by location
Per
year
UK
France
Killed
Injured
Killed
Injured
At work
380
1,500,000
700
1,150,000
On the
road
3,600
317,000
7,600
170,000
At home
4,100
2,700,000
9,000
3,000,000
Source: WHO Europe 2005
Housing Conditions 2006
Non decent as
result of Cat 1
hazard (000s)
Non-decent
total (000s)
3,452
5,473
797
1,298
LA
297
801
RSL
206
530
Total
4,752
8,102
Owneroccupied
Private
rented
EHCS Headline Report
Housing Conditions 2006 –
reasons why non-decent
Category
1 hazard
Repair
Modern
facilities/
services
Thermal
comfort
All nondecent
3,452
1,117
277
2,569
5,473
Private
rented
797
374
110
749
1,298
LA
297
141
118
452
801
RSL
206
74
45
329
530
Total
4,752
1,706
550
4,099
8,102
(000s)
Owneroccupied
Hazards & non-decent homes
• Concentration of Category 1 hazards in
the private sector said to relate to the older
age profile with the risks due to original
design and construction features
• Most common Category 1 hazards are
excess cold and falls (falling on stairs due
to steepness , slippery surface, lack of
handrails or disrepair)
Vulnerable households* in nondecent and decent homes
Non-decent
homes
Decent
homes
Owner
occupied
932
1,516
Private rented
430
311
(000s)
* Households in receipt of at least one of the principal means tested or
disability related benefits.
Private Rights
• Common Law
• Contract
• S.11 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985
• Defective Premises Act 1972
• S.82 Environmental Protection Act 1990
• Public funding for action hard if not
impossible to get
• And what happens if a tenant uses these
provisions?
Landlords
• EHCS 2006 Private landlords’ survey:
– Sideline’ landlords with small portfolios to dominate
the sector 74% are individuals and couples (71% of
these “sideline” activity)
– 62% of these have no qualifications or experience
– One third of individual landlords had been letting for
less than five years
– Landlords and agents have more optimistic view of
conditions than EHCS surveyor (40% aware of
HHSRS)
– 60% of all respondents not members of trade or
professional body
• Many may be responsible and co-operative but
what about those who aren’t?
Can private rights protect
public health?
• Imbalance in power between landlord and
tenant – through lack of both funding and
security
• Is individual action appropriate to secure
public health?
• If state intervention to protect public health
and pressure on the public purse is not
appropriate here, when is it?
• Can enforcement and regulation by LHAs
safeguard health and safety in the home?
HHSRS & Part 1 Housing Act
2004
• HHSRS allows focus on the greatest
risks to health and safety in the home –
the greatest problem is the hazard of
excess cold
• Range of powers that can be used to suit
the situation – from Hazard Awareness
Notice to Emergency Prohibition or
Emergency Remedial Action
HHSRS & Regulation
• HHSRS not a standard but means of
identifying the greatest risks & does NOT
dictate course of action
• Rating is neutral of actual occupants
• Course of regulatory action can reflect:
– Risks
– Actual occupiers and their needs
– LHA housing renewal and homelessness
strategy
– Owner’s attitude and record of co-operation
– Range of factors as is appropriate
Local Authority Action
(source CIEH)
N=130
2005-06
(fitness regime
inc HMOs)
2006-07
(HHSRS
excluding HMO
licensing)
All notices served/ formal
actions
2245
2246
Notices etc complied with
1512 (all)
679 (Imp
Notices)
Prosecutions
20
25
Work in default
67
133
8376
7766
Dwellings dealt with “informally”
Activity
• Excluding HMO licensing – on average
about 73 dwellings dealt with per LHA
per year via regulatory action (approx
one-third related to HMOs)
• A comparator - the mean number of
vulnerable households in non-decent
privately rented homes is 1215 per LHA
• Tenants could take their own action but
should they have to?
Top five factors influencing
activity
1. Number of complaints from or on behalf
of residents (score 329)
2. Number of staff available to deal with
private sector housing conditions (score
293)
3. Addressing risks to health and safety in
housing (score 199)
4. HHSRS and the Regulations (score 197)
5. Priority given to HMO licensing (score
139)
(cf. “Risk of retaliatory eviction” & “Council’s renewal policy” scored 58
& 55 respectively)
Other findings of CIEH
study
• One- third of LAs reported not taking any
formal action
• 83% of 127 respondents where action taken actions not limited to Category 1 hazards
• Two-thirds of respondents indicated Category
2 hazards addressed even where no Category
1 hazards
• 24% have no published enforcement policy
• Less than 45% of respondents use the power
to charge for enforcement actions
The Tenant’s Dilemma
• Any protection for tenants is futile if the
landlord can evict them whenever a
complaint is made – what more support
can be given where enforcement action as
• Landlord can legally end assured
shorthold tenancy agreement by serving a
notice requiring possession on the tenant,
giving the tenant a minimum of two
months’ notice (s.21 HA 1988)
The Tenant’s Dilemma
• 2000 Survey of English Housing - 21% of
private tenants dissatisfied with the way
their landlords carried out repairs and
maintenance of their property
• Only one quarter of those tenants had
“tried to enforce their right”.
• CAB survey of EHPs and TROs found 48%
felt tenants “always” or “often” put off using
help for fear of jeopardising tenancy; the
remainder “sometimes”
Law Commission – Encouraging
Responsible Letting
• Doubts as to whether LHAs have the
resources to monitor general housing
conditions effectively
• Industry self-regulation would enable
LHAs to focus on those cases needing
serious action including prosecution
• If increased regulatory effort led to
poorest quality accommodation being
removed from the market – good thing
Law Commission – Encouraging
Responsible Letting
• “Instruments chosen by the 2004 Act
(particularly in respect of licensing) are
themselves rather old-fashioned and
inflexible”
• Recommendation has moved from
“enforced self-regulation” to “national
provision of landlord accreditation
schemes” accreditation available in
every LHA area.
Law Commission –
Recommendations
• Establishment of a housing standards
monitor for the PRS (Office for Tenants
and Social Landlords?) & stakeholder
board
• Single code of good housing management
practice
• National landlords’ register
• Regulation of letting agents
• New complaints procedures
• Piloting home condition certificates.
Can the market protect
public health?
• Increasing prices/equity has not led to
investment where it is most needed
• House values have been used to support
the economy and wider spending
• House condition and disrepair not directly
reflected in value/price
• Owner occupiers may have thought this not
a problem - the market works - that was
until the credit crunch
• Inflated values have made renewal difficult
Conclusion
• In the 19th Century state intervention was
necessary as housing conditions
contributed to the spread of infectious
diseases
• Housing remains a key determinant of
health (and well-being)
• Most tenants are not in a position to
enforce their “rights”
• At least 3.5 million owner-occupiers live
in unhealthy housing – that does not
indicate market efficiency for health
Conclusion
• Local authorities cannot rely solely on
complaints & enforcement to address
problems – there is a need for innovation
• A health imperative justifies public
investment in housing – if we can find the
money to support the financial system can
we not find the money for this?
• Local authorities need the PRS to help
prevent homelessness - so have to
encourage the good, squeeze out the bad