Improved Living Conditions for Social Tenants and Vulnerable Households

Date published: 29/03/2006

There have been substantial improvements since 1996 in the living conditions of social tenants and vulnerable households in the private sector according to the 2004 English House Condition Survey published today. The ODPM survey shows an overall reduction of 1 million social homes and 400 thousand vulnerable private sector households living in dwellings failing to meet the decent homes standard since 1996. This rate of progress has resulted in a narrowing of disparities in the housing conditions of these relative to more affluent households.

Most of the improvement in the social sector has taken place in the most deprived areas.

The survey monitors the Government's key housing target to bring all social housing into a decent condition and to progressively increase the proportion of vulnerable households living in decent homes in the private housing sector.  Vulnerable households are those in receipt of means tested or disability related benefits.

The Government's decent homes standard requires homes to meet the statutory minimum standard (fitness), be in a reasonable state of repair, have modern facilities, and to have adequate levels of insulation and an effective heating system to ensure the home can be kept warm.

The survey also monitors the quality the environments around people's homes to inform the Government's target to help create greener, safer and cleaner communities. It assesses whether homes are affected by any of a range of problems related to the upkeep and utilisation of the area and to noise and other forms of pollution associated with road traffic and other forms of travel.

In 2004 3.2 million (15 per cent of) households live in poor quality environments of which 1.3 million (39 per cent) also live in non-decent homes.