The Decent Homes Standard: what your home must be like

In short

The Decent Homes Standard is the government's benchmark for the minimum condition social housing should meet. It covers four areas: is the home free from serious hazards, is the building in reasonable repair, are the facilities reasonably modern, and is the home warm enough.

Does your social home fall below this standard, with a landlord who has been told and not acted? You may have grounds for a disrepair claim. Call us free on 0800 030 4669 to find out where you stand.

What the Decent Homes Standard is

The government introduced the standard in 2000 to lift the condition of social housing across England. It defines the minimum quality a social home should reach. It has been updated since, and it remains the key benchmark for social landlords and their regulator.

A home counts as "decent" only if it passes all four of the tests below.

The four criteria

1. It meets the current statutory minimum standard for housing

The home must have no Category 1 hazard under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). Category 1 hazards are serious risks to health and safety: severe damp and mould, dangerous wiring, excess cold, unstable structures, or fall hazards on stairs.

2. It is in a reasonable state of repair

The building's key parts must not be old and worn out together. The standard looks at the roof, windows, doors, walls, heating and plumbing. If several fail at once, the home may be judged not in reasonable repair.

3. It has reasonably modern facilities and services

This covers kitchens and bathrooms. A kitchen more than 20 years old, or a bathroom more than 30 years old, may fail this test, especially in poor condition. The home should also have adequate noise insulation between dwellings.

4. It provides a reasonable degree of thermal comfort

The home must have efficient heating and effective insulation. A home that is very hard to heat, or where a broken heating system was never replaced, may fail this test.

Who the standard currently applies to

The Decent Homes Standard currently applies to social housing in England, meaning homes let by:

• Local councils
• Housing associations
• Arm's length management organisations (ALMOs)

It does not yet apply in law to private rented homes. Private landlords still have their own repair and fitness duties, under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018.

The extension to private renting

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 gives the government the power to extend a version of the Decent Homes Standard to private renting. The regulations setting out what it will require of private landlords have not yet been published. When they are, private tenants will gain new rights to challenge conditions that fall below the standard.

You can read the Act at legislation.gov.uk and the government's renting guidance at gov.uk/private-renting.

The Regulator of Social Housing

The Regulator of Social Housing oversees the standards registered social landlords must meet in England, including the consumer standards that require homes to be kept in good repair. Where a landlord fails its tenants on a large scale, the Regulator can investigate and act. Contact it at gov.uk/government/organisations/regulator-of-social-housing.

But the Regulator deals with system-wide failure, not individual complaints. For your own home, use your landlord's complaints process first, then the Housing Ombudsman if you are a social tenant.

How to check if your home fails the standard

Hold the four tests up against your home:

• Is there a Category 1 hazard: serious damp, mould, cold, or a structural risk?
• Are key parts of the building, like the roof, windows, boiler or plumbing, in a poor state?
• Are the kitchen or bathroom very old and in a bad condition?
• Is the home very hard to heat, or is the heating not working properly?

If your home clearly fails any of these, you have the right to report it and expect action.

What to do

1. Report the problem to your landlord in writing. Describe each issue and where it is.
2. Follow the landlord's formal complaints process if repairs do not happen in a fair time.
3. Contact the Housing Ombudsman (social tenants) if the complaint goes unresolved. The Ombudsman can order repairs and compensation. Find them at housing-ombudsman.org.uk.
4. Contact your council's environmental health team for a HHSRS inspection if your home is unsafe.
5. Call us to explore a disrepair claim alongside the complaints process.

Where we fit in

Support for Tenants helps with housing disrepair claims. Where a social landlord let conditions slip below a decent standard and ignored reports over time, there may be a claim for compensation as well as repairs.

No upfront cost. You only pay if you win, and the fee comes out of the compensation, not your pocket. If you don't win, you pay nothing.

Call us free on 0800 030 4669, send the short form, or message us on WhatsApp. See also where to get other housing help.

Sources

• Decent Homes Standard review (GOV.UK)
• Housing Health and Safety Rating System (England) Regulations 2005 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Regulator of Social Housing (GOV.UK)
• Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)