A QUARTER of homes in Bradford failed to meet decent standards, new figures show.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) figures show 25 per cent of all 215,608 occupied homes in Bradford failed to meet the Government’s official Decent Homes Standard.

The city had one of the highest rates of homes in bad condition.

Figures

The Government’s English Housing Survey revealed that 3.6 million homes across the country were deemed ‘non-decent’ because they could either pose a risk to residents’ health or life, are in a bad state of repair, are cold or lack modern facilities.

In Bradford, 45 per cent of privately rented homes were deemed non-decent and 14 per cent of all social homes.

The annual survey asks people at a sample of addresses about the state and quality of their housing.

Across the country, 9 per cent of all 23.9 million homes had category 1 hazards observed, which are the most serious hazards.

The figure stood at 17 per cent in Bradford.

Overall, across England the proportion of privately rented homes found to be in bad condition was twice as high as social housing homes, with 23 per cent compared with 11 per cent.

Reaction

The fuel poverty charity National Energy Action said lives are “being ruined by cold, damp housing”.

Matt Copeland, head of policy at NEA, said current incentives and regulations are not sufficient to get landlords to improve their properties.

He added the Government had promised to consult on increasing the minimum energy efficiency standard of privately rented properties, but there has been no further development on this.

David Finch, assistant director in the Healthy Lives directorate at the Health Foundation, said non-decent homes are putting potentially vulnerable people at significant risk of health problems.

He said: “Damp homes can affect respiratory health, leading to asthma, coughing, and wheezing, with cold homes also linked to higher winter deaths.”

Government response

A DLUHC spokesperson said: “Our landmark Renters Reform Bill is progressing through Parliament. The Bill will deliver a fairer private rented sector for both responsible tenants and good faith landlords.

“Everyone has the right to a warm, secure and decent home, and we expect landlords to meet our energy efficiency standards before letting properties.

“We are introducing a Decent Homes Standard in the private rented sector for the first time and also bringing in the Social Housing (Regulation) Act, which will deliver significant changes across the sector to ensure landlords are held to account for their performance.”