Safe and healthy housing is a basic right, but may people live in houses unfit for purpose. Research led by Professor David Ormandy has shown that the health and safety of residents should be at the centre of housing policy. Professor Ormandy and his team explored potential hazards of poor housing, and devised a new tool to assess these hazards - the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). By using this tool, authorities can assess risks to public health posed by the state of any housing unit. The HHSRS became a central part of the Government’s Decent Homes Standard, which all social housing must now meet.
The Housing Act 2004 now requires English and Welsh local authorities to enforce remedies for unsatisfactory housing, as assessed by the HHSRS. This saves the NHS millions of pounds annually, and prevents thousands of occupiers from becoming ill or suffering injury. For example, in Liverpool, 6,000 HHSRS inspections led to the removal of over 4,410 serious hazards, encouraging over £5.45m in investment by private landlords. This benefitted 47,248 occupants.
https://warwick.ac.uk/research/impact/social-sciences/law/healthier-homes
