Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner will announce a series of measures to protect renters in her speech at the Labour Party conference.
Rayner is expected to commit to “building homes fit for the future” in Sunday’s speech, which will open Labour’s first annual gathering since winning the general election.
The measures include fire safety defects, damp and mould, and driving up housing standards.
Before her speech, Ms Rayner – who is also Housing Secretary – said: “Just because Britain isn’t working at the moment, it doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed. We will deliver for working people and, in doing so, show that politics can change lives.
NEW: @AngelaRayner commits to a devolution revolution in the North.
— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) September 21, 2024
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“We’ve inherited a Tory housing crisis. This Labour Government is taking a wave of bold action to not only build the housing our country needs and boost social and affordable housing, but to ensure all homes are decent, safe, and warm.”
The package is expected to include a new law aimed at ensuring landlords respond to reports of hazards like damp and mould swiftly.
The proposed legislation, Awaab’s law, is named after two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died as a direct result of exposure to mould in the social home his family rented in Rochdale.
Labour estimates it would support tenants in 746,000 homes with reported serious hazards to secure faster repairs, reducing health and safety risks.
Ms Rayner will speak of plans to accelerate efforts to fix unsafe cladding on high-rise buildings across the UK, just weeks after the conclusion of the Grenfell Tower inquiry.
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She is also expected to lay out Labour’s intention to consult on a new standard for all social and private rented homes.
The Deputy Prime Minister added: “For Labour this is not just about building houses at any cost but making houses people can call home.
“This means ending the scandalous situation where standards for existing and future tenants don’t currently even meet the minimum of safety and decency everyone should expect.
“Today Labour is committing to raising the bar on the poor standards we’ve inherited from the Tories to ensure homes are fit for the future.”
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