The long-awaited consultation on the new Decent Homes Standard is now open with the chance to influence flooring provision and a proposed best practice guide on Furniture Provision.
You don’t need to reply to every question if you don’t want to and the questions that specifically refer to furniture poverty are Questions 28 & 29, and Questions 42 & 43.
This is an opportunity to ensure that our most vulnerable citizens no longer move into properties with bare floorboards or concrete floors and we would like the Furniture Provision guide to encourage landlords to furnish at least 10% of their general needs stock.
We’ve put together some suggested responses below but we are also here to help so if you have any questions about your response, please do get in touch.
For Question 28 – Please Select Yes
For Question 29 – Suggested response on flooring:
Flooring is an integral part of any property but, due to its expense, many social housing tenants are forced to live without. For any home to be considered decent, floor coverings in all habitable rooms should be a minimum requirement.
Research by End Furniture Poverty shows that at least 1.2m people live without flooring and 61% of those are social housing tenants, highlighting the extent of the problem.
Walking on bare floorboards or concrete floors is an unsafe environment for children to learn to walk and play, for the elderly and for those with disabilities. It can also make it difficult to heat the home, making it more expensive to keep adequately warm.
Additionally, it is dehumanising to live in a property which lacks the fundamental flooring required to make it a home, causing significant mental health strain on those in these conditions. Tenants can also get into unmanageable debt trying to floor a rented property themselves, leaving them unable to buy other essentials.
There are numerous benefits to providing floor coverings, for both tenants and landlords, including increased tenancy sustainment, greater pride in their home, increased community cohesion, and health and wellbeing benefits and reduced social isolation.
We agree with the proposed idea that flooring from a previous tenant could be used ‘‘if they are clean, free from hazards and in a reasonable state of repair at the start of the tenancy’’. Currently, between tenures, social landlords remove flooring throughout the property which is both wasteful and places an unnecessary burden on new tenants.
This would greatly strengthen criterion C of the Decent Homes Standard while vastly improving the quality of housing available to those on low incomes.
For Question 42 – Please select furniture provision
For Question 43 – Suggested response:
Furniture provision in social housing can vastly improve the physical and mental health of tenants, whilst also having a positive impact on their social and financial wellbeing. When considering best practice guidance for the Decent Homes Standard, furniture provision should be a cornerstone of good quality social homes.
Only 2% of social homes are let as furnished, compared to 29% in the private rental sector. Research from End Furniture Poverty shows that, among social housing tenants, 8% are living in ‘deep furniture poverty’ – missing three or more essential furniture and white goods items.
As a result, the best practice guidance should strongly encourage landlords to provide furniture in at least 10% of their general needs stock. Furnishing 10% of their stock will ensure that the most vulnerable social housing tenants are able to access the essential items needed to live a secure and fulfilling life.
Without this, vulnerable tenants such as survivors of domestic abuse or those escaping homelessness will move into an empty box rather than a home.
Furnishing a full property can be an insurmountable challenge for these groups. As a result, many enter unmanageable debt, often with high credit attached, to furnish their home. Furniture provision can prevent this happening.
The best method of providing this furniture support is furnished tenancies (FTs). For those on benefits, this allows the cost of furniture and appliances to be added to the service charge of Universal Credit.
FTs also create cost savings for other departments as every £1 invested has a minimum return of £2.10 for the wider public purse. It is not just the right thing to do morally; it is the right thing to do financially.
