London boroughs call for change to Housing Bill’s repairs rule

London councils are to demand an amendment to the Housing Bill because they fear it could hamper their efforts to encourage urban regeneration.

The Association of London Government is expected to sponsor an amendment to the bill after advice from its urban renewal specialists, who are concerned the proposed law will restrict councils’ powers to improve private sector housing.

In its current form, it would change the law so councils could only order private landlords to repair specific hazards in their homes.

They would only be able to intervene when the hazard became apparent and the repair work would not have to go beyond making things safe, even if an underlying problem meant the hazard would reappear.

Under current legislation, a council can order landlords to repair a home if it thinks there is a risk the homes will become unfit. The order covers entire properties, so the home are eventually brought up to a standard comparable with the decent homes standard.

The ALG is expected to call for the existing powers to be retained in the Housing Bill, which goes to committee stage in the House of Lords on 20 July.

Any change to councils' powers to demand repairs could be a real handicap

Norman Parkinson, King's College

Norman Parkinson, lecturer in environmental health at King’s College, said: “The existing powers are important for councils hoping to achieve regeneration and any change could be a real handicap.

“The new system will work well but councils need to retain the powers they have to deal with everything at once.”

The proposal is considered to be a threat to schemes such as Passmore Urban Renewal, a £20m venture between Newham council and four housing associations that aims to regenerate Forest Gate in south London.

The area has a high concentration of private landlords, making the regeneration more difficult to achieve.

Peter Snell, lead officer in renewal projects at Newham, said: “The standard that has been achieved in Forest Gate properties so far would not be possible under the new provisions.”