Landlords in Wales are now 100% compliant with country’s quality standard
All social landlords in Wales are meeting the government’s Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS), according to the latest figures.
The latest data published by the Welsh government, correct up to 31 March this year, show that there are zero homes deemed to be non-compliant with the WHQS.
The WHQS was introduced in 2002 in a bid to drive up standards in social housing.
Under the current standard, all social homes in Wales must meet a number of requirements, including being in a good state of repair, safe and secure, adequately heated and well managed.
Of the 232,880 homes managed by registered providers across Wales, 180,591 were deemed fully compliant with the WHQS.
The remaining 52,289 were deemed compliant subject to acceptable fails.
The Welsh government explained that the most common reason for an acceptable fail was “timing of remedy”, which occurred in just over half of all dwellings containing an acceptable fail.
READ MORE
The original deadline for achieving the WHQS was set for the end of 2020, but this was extended until the end of last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Bryony Haynes, policy and external affairs manager at Community Housing Cymru, said: “The statistics released today show that homes continue to be brought up to a good standard by social landlords, with 100% of all social housing dwellings WHQS compliant (including acceptable fails) compared with 99% in the previous report.
“Housing associations are committed to even greater improvement, in particular on decarbonisation. To support this, we need a committed long-term investment plan from the Welsh government as part of their response to the consultation on WHQS 2023.”
Matt Dicks, director at Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Cymru, said the figures reflect the hard work undertaken by the organisation’s members to ensure that all social housing tenants in Wales have a more sustainable and accessible home.
He added: “This does not mean that we have completed the task of making the experience of our social housing tenants even better, even more sustainable and even more energy efficient. The sector is ready to work with the Welsh government on the next iteration – WHQS 2023.”
“But that ambition will only be achieved with the right level of investment from the government and a sensible timescale in which to achieve it, particularly given the current inflationary and supply chain pressures.”
This new iteration of WHQS is set to come in next year and the Welsh government launched a consultation on proposals for a new quality standard in May.
The new measures are aimed at driving up the conditions of social housing across the country.
It is hoped the next iteration will build on the success of its predecessor in a way that attempts to address the cost of living crisis, the climate change emergency, and standards of decarbonisation in the sector.
The results of the consultation are being analysed by external consultants and a final standard is expected to be published in 2023.
A Welsh government spokesperson said: “We were pleased to see the number of social housing dwellings compliant with WHQS continue to rise.
“100% of all social housing dwellings – including both RSL [registered social landlords] and local authority landlords – now reach the standards with only some acceptable fails.
“We also saw 78% achieve full compliance which is the highest figure yet.”
Sign up for our Wales newsletter
New to Inside Housing? Click here to register and receive our Wales round-up straight to your inbox
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
