We need a new ‘Green and Decent’ programme for council homes 

We must not leave these families behind as their neighbours benefit from the new homes that are set to be built. To do so would not just breed deep resentment, it would consign millions of people to the poor health, unaffordable bills and reduced life chances that substandard housing brings.

Leaving our existing homes to languish would also put our national climate and energy security goals out of reach.

Britain’s homes are also among the draftiest in Europe, accounting for over a fifth of our national carbon emissions and rising. The new government has started to tackle this in earnest, but to end our national contribution to global overheating, and insulate our country from future global energy price spikes, we need to go much further.

“Leaving our existing homes to languish would also put our national climate and energy security goals out of reach”

The case for action is clear. That is why we’re launching our proposal for a national Green and Decent Homes Programme at the House of Lords, with support from parliamentarians, sector leaders and national advocates such as Lord Bird, the founder of The Big Issue.

This proposal builds on our Securing the Future of Council Housing report launched last year, supported by our coalition of 112 councils across the breadth of England and the political spectrum.

For the government, the first priority has to be to bring publicly owned homes up to scratch, so we can secure one of our most precious national assets: our stock of council and housing association homes. That’s why our proposal calls for a new Green and Decent Homes Programme for social rent homes, backed by funding.

“By investing now, we can prevent a future of ever-rising healthcare costs, deepening inequalities and environmental degradation”

The past decade laid bare just how much this is needed. Following the tragedies of the Grenfell fire and the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak, no one should be in any doubt about the urgent need to reduce fire risk and eradicate damp. The cost of living crisis has made the price of Britain’s poorly insulated homes just as clear.

Our proposal is built on 10 clear principles that reflect best practice and innovation: 

1. One single, integrated Green and Decent Homes Standard

2. Long-term, multiyear capital funding

3. Funding allocated based on need

4. Strategic investment by landlords focused on clear outcomes

5. A progressive and ambitious standard

6. Regular updates to reflect innovation and best practice at least every 10 years

7. Transparent, outcomes-based reporting

8. Funding flexibility for landlords – no arbitrary restrictions

9. Realistic delivery timelines

10. Investment in replacement homes as part of the standard

To succeed, we need long-term, multiyear capital funding. We’re asking for at least £12bn over five years, and a programme that lasts for 20 years.

To be clear, many billions more than this will also go into this programme from tenants’ rents. But rents cannot fund the full cost of lifting homes up to modern standards, and nor should they. It was not tenants who caused the national failures in fire safety and damp that we now have to put right.

And many of the benefits that will come from this programme – thousands of jobs, reduced NHS, social care and disability benefits bills, and falling carbon emissions – will benefit our whole country, not just the people living in upgraded homes.

This is a call to all who believe in the right to a decent home. It’s about creating homes that are safe, decent and liveable for future generations.

By investing now, we can prevent a future of ever-rising healthcare costs, deepening inequalities and environmental degradation.

The housing crisis demands bold solutions. The time to act is now, and we look forward to working with the government to create the safe, warm, decent council homes our country needs.

Kieron Williams, leader, Southwark Council