The Welsh Housing Quality Standard 2023 has been published

All social housing must be maintained and kept in good condition. The Welsh Government previously consulted on a new housing quality standard for social housing and, after over 200 responses, a new standard has now been published; the Welsh Housing Quality Standard 2023 ('the Standard'). 

The Welsh government set out that the ‘standard has been updated to reflect changes in the way people live, work and feel about their homes’ and that ‘the standard will continue to improve the quality of people’s homes, sets new targets to address decarbonisation and water efficiency’.

Julie James, the Minister for climate change states;

‘This standard builds on the excellent achievements of its predecessor and will continue to drive up and maintain the quality of social housing in Wales… [the standard] once again raises the bar for social housing and aims to be both bold and achievable. It is deliberately demanding’.

Keys points of the Standard are as follows:

• It is contract holder focused and designed to upgrade social homes in a way that contributes to positive health, education and wellbeing outcomes.
• The investment required to enable homes to meet the Standard, also provides a significant opportunity to generate and retain prosperity for local communities, through the creation of jobs, training and apprenticeships in the supply chain. 
• The Standard sets out the minimum quality standards for existing social homes and the Welsh Government encourages social landlords to aim for standards beyond the minimum requirements.
• Social landlords are actively encouraged to engage with their contract holders to shape their programme of works and to take account of feedback from other contract holders.
• The Standard sets out standards relating to the decarbonisation of social homes and aims to reduce carbon emissions from the Welsh housing stock. This standard contributes towards governmental climate change goals expressed through the Net Zero Wales plan published in 2021 and updated in 2022.
• Consideration should be given to how landlords can alleviate digital exclusion amongst residents.
• There is no requirement within the Standard for all dwellings to have a full HHSRS assessment undertaken but landlords should detail how the organisation intend to comply with their HHSRS obligations. There is an expectation that if landlords follow the standards required by the new Standard, they would exceed HHSRS requirements.

For social landlords to meet the Standard, homes must be:

• in a good state of repair
• safe and secure
• affordable to heat and have minimal environmental impact
• fitted with an up-to-date kitchen and utility area
• fitted with an up-to-date bathroom
• comfortable and promotes wellbeing

Homes should also have a suitable garden and attractive outside space. 

All Local Housing Authorities in Wales and RSLs must comply with the Standard elements and guidance. 

The Welsh Parliament confirms a commitment to bringing all existing social housing up to this new standard by 2033. The expectation is that the Standard will be reviewed within three years and reviewed and refreshed within ten years. The next review will then take into account the improvement made to the social housing stock from this Standard and the progress required to remain on track to meet 2050 climate obligations.

For more information, the Standard can be found here;  

Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) 2023

If you would like further information, please contact Victoria Smith.