Decent homes standard
Maintenance is an important part of the service we provide. We carry out regular work to make sure your home is safe, comfortable and well looked after.
The Decent Homes Standard is a technical standard introduced by the Government in 2000
We provide housing and related support services to clients to empower them to manage the issues they are facing, gain new skills, and increase their confidence. We provide our services in a trauma-informed way and tailor this to each individual person’s needs. We do this to enable them to improve their lives and live more independently.
The criteria
1. Homes must meet the current legal minimum standard for housing
There are 29 hazards which homes are assessed against, and these are divided into four groups of hazards:
- Physiological (relating to the physical health of people living in the homes) – these include heating and moisture conditions and non-microbial pollutants
- Psychological (relating to the mental health of people living in the homes) – these include space, security, light and noise
- Protection against infection – these include hygiene, sanitation and water supply
- Protection against accidents – these include falls, electric shock, burns and scalds and building-related collision
2. Homes must be in a reasonable state of repair
To be in a reasonable state of repair homes must not have:
- one or more key building components that are old and because of their condition, need replacing or major repair; or
- two or more ‘other’ (i.e. not ‘key’) building components that are old and, because of their condition, need replacing or major repair.
The Standard also sets out details of how long these components can be in use (i.e. their lifetimes).
3. Homes must have reasonably modern facilities and services meaning that at least four of the following requirements must be met:
- a reasonably modern kitchen (20 years old or less)
- a kitchen with adequate space and layout
- a reasonably modern bathroom (30 years old or less)
- an appropriately located bathroom and WC
- adequate insulation against external noise (where external noise is a problem) and
- adequate size and layout of common areas for blocks of flats.
4. Homes must be warm and weatherproof.
They should have effective insulation and efficient heating (and no unresolved damp, mould or condensation issues)
Key building components
- roof structure and covering
- windows,doors and external walls
- chimneys
- central heating boilers and storage heaters
- gas fires
- plumbing
- electrics
Any other components not detailed here are considered to be ‘other’ building components rather than ‘key’ building components. (Lifts are not usually considered to be key building components unless they have a direct impact on the structure of a building. If this was the case, we would treat them as key building components.)