English Housing Survey: number of non-decent homes falls while levels of damp rise

Drop in the prevalence of non-decent homes

 

The data showed that there was a decrease in the overall prevalence of non-decent homes in the social rented sector, from 12 per cent pre-pandemic in 2019 to 10 per cent in 2023.

 

Jon Slade, director at Campbell Tickell, told Social Housing that the English regulator has sharpened its focus on data in general and stock condition data in particular.

 

“On the other hand, what started as a focus on specific risks such as cladding, building safety, damp and mould and carbon zero has evolved as organisations seek to develop co-ordinated investment plans,” he said.

 

In the private rented sector there was “no significant decrease” in the number of non-decent homes, the survey found. The number of homes of this tenure that failed the DHS dropped slightly from 1.1 million in 2019 to one million in 2023, according to MHCLG.

 

As in previous years, in 2023 the social rented sector had the lowest proportion of non-decent homes (10 per cent), while the private rented sector had the highest proportion (21 per cent).

 

Over the 10-year period from 2013 to 2023, the proportion of homes failing the DHS in the social rented sector fell from 15 to 10 per cent. Meanwhile, the proportion in the private rented sector dropped from 30 to 21 per cent.

 

In the social rented sector, the East of England had the lowest rate of non-decent homes (six per cent). The government said this was “significantly” lower than all other regions with the exception of the North East (nine per cent) and the West Midlands (nine per cent).

 

‘Noticeable increase’ in levels of dangerous damp and mould

 

In 2023, five per cent – or 1.3 million homes – in England had a problem with damp. This was higher than in any of the past five years (three to four per cent) and an increase on the four per cent in modelled data in both 2021 and 2022.

 

MHCLG said that between 1996 and 2011, there was a “sizeable reduction” in the prevalence of all homes with damp problems, but that incidences of damp have increased since 2019.

 

The agency said in the survey: “While this goes against the general trend of housing quality improvement, it is not necessarily surprising. Remediation of damp caused by disrepair over the COVID-19 pandemic was possibly slowed since work could not be done under social distancing restrictions.

 

“Increasing energy costs over this time period may have also made it more difficult for households to effectively heat dwellings, a known driver of serious condensation.”

 

Damp problems were more prevalent in private rented homes, with nine per cent of homes having this problem in 2023, compared to seven per cent of social rented homes.

 

Damp increased across all tenures since 2019. The percentage of housing association homes that had a problem with damp rose from four per cent in 2019 to five per cent in 2023 and for local authorities the percentage increased from five to nine per cent.

In 2023, within the social rented sector, local authority homes were more likely to have “serious condensation” (seven per cent) than housing association homes (four per cent).

 

The government said there was “a notable increase in levels of dangerous damp and mould” in all tenures when compared to the pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

 

“This increase in dangerous damp and mould is particularly important given recent policy developments and health concerns,” MHCLG said in the data.

 

Mr Slade also suggested that the increase seen in the data reflected “clear evidence of a far higher degree of attention” being paid by landlords to damp, mould and condensation.

 

“The number of actual cases will not have changed significantly, but more of those cases are now known about by landlords,” he said.

 

“The higher numbers in local authority homes are likely chiefly an indicator of the differences in age profile between local authority and RP stock, and may also reflect different investment profiles between RPs and local authorities.”

 

The Housing Health and Safety Rating System

 

In 2023, eight per cent of homes in England (two million) had a Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) Category 1 hazard, a drop from nine per cent in 2021.

 

The HHSRS is a risk-based assessment that identifies hazards in homes and evaluates their potential effects on the health and safety of occupants and their visitors. Category 1 hazards are the most serious hazards.

 

The data showed that in 2023 these hazards were more prevalent in private rented homes (10 per cent) than in social rented homes (four per cent) and in owner-occupied homes (eight per cent).

 

Energy efficiency

 

Elsewhere, the data showed that over the past 10 years, the proportion of homes with the highest Standard Assessment Procedure energy efficiency rating (EER) of A to C increased from 23 per cent in 2013 to 52 per cent in 2023.

 

Meanwhile, the proportion within the lowest bands of E to G dropped over the same time period, from 26 to nine per cent.

 

In 2023, social housing had a higher proportion of homes with an EER of C, with 68 per cent for housing association homes and 67 per cent for local authorities.

 

The most common EER for owner-occupiers and private rented homes was C (both 45 per cent). This was also the first time that the most common rating in the private rented sector was C.

 

Overcrowding

 

Elsewhere, the overall rate of overcrowding in England in 2023-24 was three per cent, with approximately 790,000 households living in overcrowded conditions.

 

This was similar to 2020-21, when around 738,000 households were overcrowded (three per cent).

 

Overcrowding increased over the past 10 years in the social rented sector, affecting six per cent of households in 2013-14 and nine per cent in 2023-24.