The Week in Housing: 24 hours for emergency repairs

Good afternoon.

24 hours. That’s how long social landlords will have to complete emergency repairs once identified under the proposals set out for Awaab’s Law.

A consultation, launched by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) this week, proposes new legal requirements for landlords to investigate hazards within 14 days.

Once a hazard is identified they must start fixing it within a further seven days, and make emergency repairs within 24 hours.

Emergency repairs are defined in the consultation document as those that present a “significant and imminent risk of harm” and include gas leaks, broken boilers and electrical hazards such as exposed wires.

The consultation comes six months after the Social Housing (Regulation) Act became law.

Awaab’s Law, named after two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died as a direct result of prolonged exposure to mould in a Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) flat, was an amendment to the act.

Despite repeated pleas for help from Awaab’s family, RBH failed to take appropriate action to fix the issues.

As the government outlined this approach, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) revealed plans for its own new Awaab-inspired scheme.

The GMCA expects a “large proportion” of social landlords in Greater Manchester to sign a new charter aimed at boosting housing standards.

A six-week consultation on how the voluntary Good Landlord Charter will operate was launched by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.

The scheme will involve private and social landlords applying to become a member by showing they are meeting “legal minimum standards” for renting homes.

Mr Burnham said the idea was partly initiated by the “devastating conclusions” from the inquest of Awaab Ishak.

No one in the sector will argue that these reforms are not necessary to drive up standards, but the question remains how deliverable they will be due to cost and capacity at a time of competing financial pressures.

Local authorities are particularly stretched at the moment, with reports suggesting that one in five English councils are at risk of bankruptcy.

Rising costs have meant that one London council, which owns around 10,500 council homes, is carrying out emergency repairs only amid high demand.

Enfield Council said that for a “short period” it will prioritise emergency issues, while non-emergency repairs will be “programmed for delivery at a future date”.

While Enfield’s plan to prioritise emergency repairs might be compatible with what is set out in Awaab’s Law, to make the proposals work, landlords are going to put a lot more resources into preventive maintenance to stop problems becoming life threatening in the first place.

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