Social housing conditions in England show marked improvements

Social housing conditions in England have substantially improved since 1996 with the number of non-decent homes reducing by over 3 million, from 9.1 million (45 per cent) to 6 million (27 per cent) in 2005, according to the 2005 English House Condition Headline Report.

The Communities and Local Government Report shows the social sector is improving at such a rate that in 2005 there is little difference with the private sector (29 per cent and 27 per cent non-decent respectively). The difference between the two sectors has reduced from 10 percentage points in 1996 to just 2 percentage points in 2005. Conditions remain worst in the private rented sector with 41 per cent of homes non-decent.

The Government's decent homes standard requires homes to meet the statutory minimum standard ('fitness' for the period covered by this report), be in a reasonable state of repair, have modern facilities, and to have adequate levels of insulation and an effective heating system to ensure the home can be kept warm.

Other key findings include:

The housing conditions of vulnerable households (those in receipt of means tested or disability related benefits) living in the private sector have improved considerably since 1996 when just 43 per cent lived in decent homes. In 2005 66 per cent live in decent homes.

Vulnerable owner occupiers tend to live in better conditions than their counterparts in the private rented sector; 71 per cent live in decent homes compared to just 52 per cent of private tenants.

The energy efficiency of homes has improved from an average SAP rating of 40.3 in 1996 to 46.2 in 2005. Social sector homes are on average much more energy efficient than those in the private sector (55.2 compared to 44.1 respectively) and are improving at a faster rate. (These figures are based on the SAP rating system updated in 2005.)

Some 3.4 million (16 per cent of) households live in poor quality environments. Around 1.2 million of these households also live in non-decent homes.

Living conditions in the 88 most deprived districts (those supported by the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund) are worse than elsewhere. In 2005 30 per cent of homes in these districts are non-decent and 20 per cent of households live in poor quality environments.

Deprived districts have seen improvements in housing conditions since 1996. The number of non-decent social sector homes has reduced by 680,000 since 1996 including 300,000 since 2001 (accounting for 63 per cent of progress in the social sector since 2001). However progress has been similar to that in other areas, and therefore the gap has not narrowed.

In the most deprived districts 1.4 million vulnerable households live in the private sector, and of these 37 per cent live in non-decent homes. This compares to just 32 per cent of the 1.8 million vulnerable private sector households living in other districts.