LOBBYING

BPCA is taking the fight against pests in rented properties to Northern Ireland, responding to proposals to update the Decent Homes Standard, which applies to social housing. 

The minimum standards social tenants in Northern Ireland can expect are set by the Decent Homes Standard, first introduced in 2004 and never updated since. The standards now lag well behind the rest of the UK.  

The existing standard fails to set out a basic expectation: that your home be free of pests. Unfortunately, proposals from the Department for Communities to update this standard also fail make this a basic requirement.  

Our response to the government in Northern Ireland will make clear the need to include measures that offer that protection: 

• That there be a duty to address pest infestations within Awaab’s Law-style time limits 
• That provision for waste and recycling disposal is mandatory, and that it be managed in such a way that it does not encourage pests 
• And that communal areas be kept clean. 

Implementing our recommendations should bring Northern Ireland in line with the standards the rest of the UK has set for protecting social tenants from pests. 

England and Wales have acknowledged the threats pests pose to tenants since 2006 with the Housing Health and Safety Rating System.  

BPCA is proud of our efforts to ensure additional protections for social tenants were included in Awaab’s Law, which is currently being implemented in England and will be extended to private tenants via the Renters Rights Act.

We will be meeting shortly with officials in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to talk to them about the implementation of the second phase of Awaab’s Law. 

We welcome a Welsh equivalent to Awaab’s Law, which is due to come into force from April as an addendum to the Welsh Housing Quality Standard, covering pests from the very beginning. We will be working to ensure that Scotland’s version is also extended to include pests. 

Northern Ireland’s Department for Communities made their proposals as a response to Awaab’s Law in England, and BPCA will be making sure it lives up to it. 

The Department for Communities consultation closes on 4 March.  

Source: Online