Government must axe ‘dangerous’ housing plans

The NRLA has added its voice to calls opposing plans to exempt landlords housing asylum seekers from meeting vital housing safety standards.

It has signed a joint letter to Michael Gove and Suella Braverman saying it is wrong that the lives of vulnerable people should be put at risk in this way – with fears that those awaiting news of their asylum claim could be packed into dangerous, overcrowded homes.  

The Government plans to remove HMO licensing requirements for private sector properties used by the Home Office to house asylum seekers, pledging that, instead, the department will carry out its own inspections. 

However the NRLA and other signatories, including the Chartered Institute of Housing, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, Crisis and Shelter, believe plans to remove the requirements are completely unnecessary and potentially dangerous. 
Enforcement of housing standards is notoriously patchy, and, in the letter, the group casts doubt on the Home Office’s ability to carry out sufficient and comprehensive inspections.

It has particular concerns over dangerous overcrowding, the sharing of facilities such as kitchens and potentially lax enforcement of gas and electrical safety standards which could pose a severe fire risk. 

The letter says: “As well as safety issues, the potential for increased use of substandard buildings could affect the health and wellbeing of people seeking sanctuary, for example by removing the standards that apply to the kitchen and bathroom facilities required in relation to numbers of occupants. 

“Limited or no controls over room-sharing may well lead to conflicts between occupants, and to safeguarding dangers. Occupants could be condemned to near cell-like conditions in rooms which (for example) could have no windows.”
Chris Norris, Policy and Campaigns Director at the NRLA said: “We know there is a backlog of asylum claims that the Government needs to tackle, which includes accommodation challenges.

“However the proposal to remove safety standards as a way of tackling these is simply not acceptable. 

“We cannot support a move that would potentially endanger the lives of people seeking sanctuary, or put their safety and wellbeing at risk.

“The move seems completely at odds with the Government’s broader efforts to improve building safety across the board - and conditions in some underperforming parts of the private rented sector - and we hope, in the face of such widespread opposition, Ministers will rethink these plans.”