{"id":349,"date":"2026-04-24T05:45:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T04:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/housing-law-wales\/?p=349"},"modified":"2026-04-24T07:19:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T06:19:35","slug":"whqs-and-my-manifesto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/housing-law-wales\/whqs-and-my-manifesto\/","title":{"rendered":"WHQS (and my manifesto)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many of you will have seen the tragic news about Giles Peaker<\/a>.\u00a0 I blogged first on Giles’ Nearly Legal site and irregularly, and we had a rather lovely community of contributors who are now a little dispersed.\u00a0 Every now and again, I would seek his advice on an issue or ask for his assistance for some people.\u00a0 He was, after all, the guru of housing law to whom we all looked – there is a lovely bio piece from Inside Housing in 2014<\/a> which demonstrates how he was viewed even then.\u00a0 He would unfailingly and kindly reply to my emails putting me in the right direction.\u00a0 He was an absolute legend and the news has caused considerable upset in my communities.<\/p>\n

One of the things about which Giles was passionate was about fitness standards, and his campaign to change the law (along with Justin Bates) in England was successful through working closely with the indefatigable Karen Buck, who introduced their Bill.\u00a0 We already had a contractual approach to fitness standards in Wales in Renting Homes.\u00a0 Subsequently, in England, they have had Awaab’s law as a response to issues around damp and mould – I have blogged here<\/a> about this law and whether it should be transposed to Wales (it’s fair to say that I was unsure about that).\u00a0 The approach in Wales has been to amend the Welsh Housing Quality Standard<\/a> in relation to nearly all of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System hazards as from the 1st April<\/a>.\u00a0 The WHQS hasn’t really featured on this blog – I’m not entirely sure why not, as it is such an important piece of soft, or regulatory, law.\u00a0 It prescribes standards for elements of social housing, which (where applicable) must be: in a good state of repair; safe and secure; affordable to heat and has minimal environmental impact;\u00a0 have an up-to-date kitchen and utility area; up-to-date bathroom; comfortable and promotes wellbeing; a suitable garden; and an attractive outside space.\u00a0 \u00a0All the evidence suggests that the Standard has been successful in raising the quality of social housing in Wales since its introduction in 2002.\u00a0 Regulatory law is often better at this kind of role than hard law, as it can be more reflexive and responsive.\u00a0 Following consultation, Jayne Bryant announced<\/a> that the update would “set out clear timescales for investigating and remedying hazards, including those relating to damp and mould”.\u00a0 And:<\/p>\n

“Landlords should demonstrate a proactive, person-centred approach: identifying risks before they escalate, engaging with tenants to understand their needs, and prioritising well-being. Improvements in how damp and mould issues are managed are a key expectation, and robust processes are vital to deliver safe, healthy homes for all.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s difficult to disagree with that, but it does suggest that the claims about the WHQS success might be overblown.\u00a0 Although there has been an increase in reports of damp and mould, there is also a concern about under-reporting by occupiers.\u00a0 The Local Government and Housing Committee’s evidence on Hazardous Disrepair in Social Housing<\/em><\/a> from tenants’ groups suggested that this might be out of embarrassment, that tenants might be blamed for causing damp and mould (the old “your habits cause condensation” rationale – on which Giles had strong views), or repercussions when tenants have rent arrears.\u00a0 We are told – and it is accepted – that social landlords have got better at responding to complaints, but, the Committee (at [30]) said, “it is concerning that some cases that could be addressed at an early stage are not resolved effectively, leading to an escalation of more complex cases”.\u00a0 Gwennan Hardy has provided an excellent summary<\/a> of the background to the rules and whether they will help tackle hazards.<\/p>\n

The new rule is as follows:<\/p>\n

“All Housing Health and Safety Rating System (\u201cHHSRS\u201d) Hazards (except overcrowding), which present a potential significant risk to the tenant or occupier and where the hazard results from building component defects or disrepair within the landlord\u2019s control, must be investigated and remedied within the timescales set out in the rule.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The timescales are<\/p>\n

A hazard which may present a significant risk with an assessed likelihood of imminent harm<\/span> to the tenant\/occupier must be investigated within 24 hours and remedied within a further 24 hours. Any work to make safe should be carried out as soon as possible in any event.<\/p>\n

A hazard which may present a significant risk with no<\/span> assessed likelihood of imminent harm will be investigated within 10 working days and remedied within a further 5 working day period.<\/p>\n

On occasion and on the assumption of best endeavours, it will not be possible to remedy a hazard within the timescales above. In this case, a written summary plan must be provided to the tenant (hard copy or electronic) within 5 working days. The content of the summary plan is set out in the published statutory guidance.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The guidance is that a significant risk is “one that poses a significant risk of harm to the health or safety of a tenant\/occupant, specifically, a significant risk of harm is defined as a risk of harm to the occupier\u2019s health or safety that a competent member of the landlord\u2019s workforce with the relevant knowledge would take steps to make safe as a matter of urgency”.\u00a0 Importantly, in assessing that risk, landlords must take into account the occupier’s vulnerability.<\/p>\n

The Local Government and Housing Committee expressed some anxiety about the lack of guidance on assessing risk and interpreting the definitions ([56]) and the CIEH’s evidence was that assessors may not have knowledge\/training about the HHSRS (I’ve got to agree with that – it is pretty complex assessment).\u00a0 It should be remembered that (a) local authorities have no formal statutory role in HHSRS assessment\/enforcement in relation to their own housing, and, (b) have historically not taken such a role in relation to RSL housing.\u00a0 So, this is an extension of the rules, but also the expert assessors may not be available\/willing to participate.\u00a0 I have written previously about the state of the HHSRS operating guidance and enforcement in Wales, and repeat those comments here – if you are working on dated guidance,\u00a0 what does this say about your commitment to housing hazards?\u00a0 And, the experts are right on your doorstep, having just led on the Westminster documents.\u00a0 In the absence of expertise and proper guidance, the attempt at getting consistency of self-reporting is frankly unlikely (and, how we might assess whether there is consistency is also an interesting question).\u00a0 The exclusion of overcrowding (due to an acknowledged need to develop larger new social housing) is also perplexing in the context of WG values around equality and anti-racism as this issue disproportionately affects black and minority ethnic households.\u00a0 I’m not sure that these rules do anything about under-reporting.\u00a0 So, I am afraid that the more self-congratulatory comments I have read need to be tempered.\u00a0 But, as I have written before, I am neutral on whether Wales should have a contractually enforceable Awaab’s law – if it does, it could do better than Westminster.<\/p>\n

Anyway, for what it’s worth, I wanted to draw together some of the themes which have been developed in this blog as my manifesto for the next Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government.\u00a0 Everybody else has one, so why can’t I …\u00a0 Taking my cue from the manifestos reviewed, as research-free wish list zones, here is my list in no particular order:<\/p>\n