For far too long people living in social housing have been treated as second class Citizens. We were treated with contempt and disrespect by a landlord that was nothing short of a mini-mafia. Our voices were silenced, our health and safety fatally compromised.
72 people paid for this neglect with their lives. No lessons were learned and, in 2020, Awaab Isak, an innocent child, lost his life in a flat not fit for human habitation.
Grenfell should have been the catalyst for change, but it’s taken the Government six years to commit to new legislation.
For six years we have fought tirelessly for a Social Housing Regulation Bill that will create a legacy for the lives lost to ensure they are remembered for the changes that came.
We hope that this legislation will go some way towards the positive change the social housing sector so desperately needs to improve conditions for tenants.
Higher consumer standards, a proper complaint process, Ofsted style inspections by the Regulator and professional social housing management can only be a step in the right direction. But this is just the beginning.
There is more to be done and we will not give up until every social housing tenant is treated with respect and dignity. That is the very least that we deserve.