The top 5 Takeaways from the Tpas Decent Homes Summit
Thursday 29th of February 2024
Tpas was delighted on the 29th of Feb to welcome members to our first online Housing Summit of 2024 on the subject of the Decent Homes Standard. We heard from our senior Policy Adviser Clare Powell on where we are with regards to the forthcoming revised standard and what to expect coming down the line. Leigh Garbutt National Social Value Manager at contractors Fortem gave us a taste of what they are proactively doing in this area and in our last presentation of the day Kevin Garvey Head of Member Relations at the National Housing Federation gave us some valuable sector wide insight into their joint work with the Chartered Institute of Housing on the Better Social Housing Review.
With a great deal of discussion in all the sessions here are the Top 5 take aways from the day.
1 Definition
Concern was expressed around the development of a clear definition of what is considered a decent home with many tenants expressing concerns that loopholes could be found.
2 Data
Clear and accurate data that gives a true account of the sectors housing stock condition was required. The development of recent technologies to do this since the creation of the current standards was seen to be beneficial to this but should run alongside efforts to gather the lived experiences of those living in properties especially those that needed urgent action.
3 Communication
Attendees felt there was an urgent need to ensure better communication between Landlords, tenants, and the Regulator. Areas such as communicating what “Decent” looks like. the ability to compare housing providers and knowledge of how a tenant could self-refer any problems concerning their property were all raised.
4 Standards are needed
Tenant attendees were sympathetic to the extreme pressures faced by the Social Housing Sector but felt that a new revised standard was essential for setting a road map for actions that housing providers urgently needed to address.
5 Money
It was felt by all that this was without any real substance or hope of success unless urgently needed funding was found to address the critical need within a considerable proportion of housing stock.
Tpas would like to thank all who attended the day and to remind you that all our Housing Summits are free to members.
Book onto the next Housing Summit - Focus on Culture