The government’s Decent Homes Standard has been labelled as not fit for purpose – just after landlords were told they had to meet the more stringent standard by 2035.

The Regulatory Policy Committee - an independent body responsible for scrutinising impact assessments - gave a ‘red’ rating to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG) assessment for the new standard.

Its report flags a range of areas where better information or analysis is needed, and says the impact assessment failed to adequately compare the preferred policy option against realistic alternatives, particularly when it came to extending the Decent Homes Standard to the PRS.

The committee also found the assessment didn't demonstrate that the preferred option outperforms alternatives on cost-effectiveness or risk. Under the new definition, an estimated 48% of private rented dwellings and 45% of social rented homes would currently fail to meet the standard, with most failing due to disrepair.

Baseline

The standard sets the baseline for housing quality in the social rented sector and will be extended across the PRS through the Renters’ Rights Act, with all private rented homes forced to meet an updated standard by 2035. The reforms formalise five criteria covering hazardous conditions, repair, specified facilities, thermal comfort and damp and mould, and enforcement.

Goodlord believes a red rating could slow down the policy’s progress, although it says MHCLG is more likely to use this opportunity to address the RPC’s concerns and resubmit an impact assessment that properly holds up to scrutiny.

Report

Emily Popple, director of landlord experience at Goodlord, says the report also undermines the government’s position and will make it harder to garner goodwill in an industry already grappling with a wide range of new costs and regulations.

“The government must address these concerns properly, otherwise it risks raising wider questions about regulatory oversight and cost-benefit discipline at a time when tensions in the markets are already high,” says Popple.

At least 726,000 private rented homes will fail to meet the current Decent Homes Standard, let alone the updated version, according to Inventory Base’s new research.

In the PRS, the number of non-decent homes fell from 1.45 million in 2008 to 1.09 million in 2024. Its forecast shows that if the current pace of remediation is maintained, 726,000 PRS properties are likely to fall short of the current standard in 2035, raising serious questions about how the nation’s stock can ever be expected to meet an updated standard.

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