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Queen’s Speech: regulator to get powers to impose emergency repairs in social housing homes
The English regulator is to be given the power to arrange emergency repairs in tenants’ homes as part of the Social Housing Bill, according to the Queen’s Speech.
The Queen's Speech confirmed the government is set to introduce the Social Housing Bill and the Renters Reform Bill #UKhousingToday’s Queen’s Speech, which outlines the government’s legislative plans for the coming year, confirmed that the government is set to introduce the long-awaited Social Housing Bill, as well as a Renters’ Reform Bill
In documents accompanying the speech, ministers outlined some of the additional powers that will be given to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) as part of the Social Housing Bill, including that it will be given the ability to arrange emergency repairs within tenants’ homes.
This will occur following a survey and where there is evidence of systemic failure by the landlord, the government said.
The Social Housing Bill is being introduced in response to the Grenfell Tower fire and comes one-and-a-half years after the Social Housing White Paper, which outlined a series of proposed reforms to the sector.
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The bill will legislate to massively expand the powers of the RSH to intervene in consumer matters, such as disrepair.
Some of the changes being brought in as part of the bill include giving the regulator the power to act more quickly when it has concerns about the decency of a home, with landlords now only being given 48 hours’ notice before an inspection is carried out.
The RSH will also be able to issue uncapped fines to landlords that fail to meet standards and housing association tenants will be able to request information from their landlord in a similar way to how the Freedom of Information Act works for council tenants.
The Queen’s Speech also confirmed that a Renters’ Reform Bill will be introduced to abolish Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions in the private rented sector.
The bill will apply the legally binding Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector and introduce a new ombudsman for private landlords.
There also appeared to be a mention of the widely mooted "infrastructure levy" as part of the government’s new Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
Under the benefits of the bill it states that a system will be put in place to "better capture financial value created by development with a locally set, non-negotiable levy" to deliver the the infrastructure that communities need, such as housing but also schools, GP surgeries and new roads.
An infrastructure levy has previously been mooted as a replacement to the existing section 106 system, and promised to give local authorities greater flexibility over how funds raised by developments could be spent.
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