Independent monitor needed to assess whether social housing stock is meeting minimum standards

12 September 2012

A National Assembly for Wales committee is recommending that independent, external verification of landlords’ reported compliance with the Welsh Housing Quality Standard is established to improve the quality of social housing properties in Wales.

The Public Accounts Committee concluded that the absence of such monitoring meant that the Welsh Government’s overarching data on existing compliance, or projections for future compliance, may not be reliably accurate.

Introduced by the Welsh Government in 2002, the Welsh Housing Quality Standard, or WHQS, set a ten-year target to ensure social housing across the country:

• is in a good state of repair;

• is safe and secure;

• is adequately heated, fuel efficient and well insulated;

• contains up-to-date kitchens and bathrooms;

• is well-managed (for rented housing);

• is located in attractive and safe environments; and

• as far as possible, suits the specific requirements of the household (for example, catering for specific disabilities).

But the Committee found that Wales’s social housing stock, estimated to be made up of approximately 221,000 homes in 2010, was a long way from achieving these standards. This failure was despite the Welsh Government extending its deadline for achieving the minimum standards to March 2013.

Furthermore, the Committee was concerned that, with no independent body monitoring the application of the WHQS, and with the standard being open to subjective interpretation, landlords’ self-reported compliance with the WHQS may not be wholly reliable.

The findings of the Committee mirror those in the Wales Audit Office report ‘Progress in delivering the Welsh Housing Quality Standard’ which was published in January of this year.

“The quality of data in establishing exactly where we are with implementing the Welsh Housing Quality Standard is a concern and the issue of independent verification of progress must be addressed,” said Darren Millar AM, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee.

“Nine months on from the Wales Audit Office report it appears that while some progress has been made, there is still much to do if we are to achieve the much-needed target of quality housing for all in Wales.”

The Committee also calls for an update on the progress of the Welsh Government’s negotiations with Her Majesty’s Treasury in reforming the Housing Revenue Account System which sees million of pounds of Welsh local authority cash paid into a central UK pot each year.

While some councils in England have been able to opt out of the system, the Committee found that negotiations in Wales were progressing slowly.

“The Committee appreciates the complexity of these negotiations, but the Committee is concerned that not enough is being done to move things along,” said Mr Millar.

“The Minister for Housing, Regeneration and Heritage has previously stated he hoped that Welsh participation in the Housing Revenue Account System would end soon, but we would like him to reveal exactly what stage he is at and how close to an agreement Wales is.”