End Housing Hell - News, views, pictures, video - The Mirror (original) (raw)

The Mirror is calling for vast improvements to social, council and private homes on the rental market - with millions currently not meeting the Decent Homes Standard.

Latest figures show there are 3.5 million homes that do not meet the Decent Homes Standard.

This includes 2.2 million properties that have at least one Category 1 hazard such as mould, asbestos or dangerous electrics and 941,000 that have serious damp.

The country was recently horrified after a coroner ruled that exposure to mould caused a respiratory condition that took the life of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in Rochdale.

His family had made repeated complaints about their flat but no action was taken before Awaab's death in November 2020.

The Mirror is demanding the following for social, council and private housing tenants:

• Fines and bans for landlords who fail to meet minimum standards
• Enforce the Decent Homes Standard and extend it to the private sector
• The building of tens of thousands more social homes
• Give more tenants access to legal aid and improve the inspection regime
• Raise the Local Housing Allowance to help tenants with the cost of rents

UPDATED 07:23, 5 Oct 2024