NRLA tells Housing Secretary standards must be enforced

NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle has written to Housing Secretary Michael Gove, to say more work is needed to enforce existing housing standards in the wake of the tragic death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak.

A coroner ruled that the youngster died as a direct result of mould in his housing association home in Rochdale two years ago.

Ben wrote to the Housing Secretary to stress how vital it is that already existing housing standards are properly enforced to ensure such a tragedy never happens again, while ensuring good landlords are supported and not punished for the actions of the minority.

With 170 pieces of legislation currently governing housing standards, Ben called on Michael Gove to ensure these are properly enforced – across the board – rather than introducing more rules, which will only alienate further the good and mean those determined to flout the law will continue to do so.

He said: “I wrote to the Housing Secretary to let him know that all responsible landlords are appalled at the needless and avoidable death of Awaab. This should never have happened, and should never happen again.

“There are currently 170 regulations governing housing standards, but all the laws in the world will do nothing to protect renters unless they are properly enforced. It therefore important that local authorities have the means at their disposal to carry out this important function in a targeted way.

“The vast majority of landlords out there are responsible and provide safe and decent homes for their tenants, so have nothing to fear from this. What we need to do now is root out the criminal minority giving the sector a bad name and champion the good landlords who the sector so badly need right now.”

To read the letter to Michael Gove in full click here.