Tenants living in substandard housing are urged to contact their landlord in writing before approaching the council so there is evidence to help with any enforcement action, writes Belinda Ryan.
A report to Cheshire East’s health and wellbeing board said there are clear links between poor housing conditions and health.
Latest available figures revealed that in 2022, 970,000 people in the private rented sector in England and 416,000 of people in the social rented sector still lived in substandard housing.
Karen Carsberg, head of housing at Cheshire East Council, said: “We have a team of housing standards officers who inspect and regulate housing in the private rented sector, including taking enforcement action.
“There are ways and means that we can enforce landlords to actually improve their properties.
“What we do encourage, and it is outlined on our website, is that tenants actually engage with landlords and put the complaints in writing to them in the first instance before they actually come to the team so that there is that record of making those complaints, and there is that evidence there to say that they have and the landlord has not taken any action to actually improve the property.”
Cllr Janet Clowes (Wybunbury, Con) asked whether tenants were too worried to go to their landlords and complain because of fear of eviction.
Catherine Sullivan, chief executive of CVS (Community & Voluntary Services) Cheshire East, said voluntary organisations like the Citizens Advice could support tenants needing to do that.
Mrs Carsberg said: “Previously, some tenants have been reluctant to actually come forward and make complaints because they fear that they’re going to be evicted.
“But there are grounds we can actually take action against landlords where we see that is actually happening.”
She said more people are now starting to report the need for repairs to their landlord.
The government move to abolish no fault evictions would also help this.
One of the biggest dangers to health highlighted at today’s meeting was that of excess cold.
The report to the meeting stated that 20,163 residents in the Cheshire East area were in fuel poverty in 2022.
Many of the worst hit groups were the elderly, vulnerable adults and households with dependent children.
The report stated: “Damp is also a major contributing factor to ill health causing various respiratory problems, infections, and allergies.
“The English Housing Survey found that 9% of privately rented and 5.4% of social rented homes [in England] had problems with damp in 2022/23.”
The devastating effects of damp were highlighted by the tragic death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in 2020.
Awaab died because of a respiratory infection caused by exposure to mould in his Rochdale home.
The board noted the report and the current work being undertaken by Cheshire East Council and registered housing providers to improve housing conditions.
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