UK housing stock in dangerous disrepair

More than a fifth of UK properties contain a major hazard which could require immediate repair.

Related topics:  Specialist Lending
Millie Dyson
28th November 2011
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According to research by property search experts SearchFlow, 21% of UK properties contain a hazard to safety so serious the local authority has a duty to intervene .

If these hazards were to be repaired, SearchFlow calculates it would cost the UK’s property owners in excess of £52bn.

Hazards qualifying for CATEGORY 1 under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System include those that can cause death, lung cancer, permanent loss of consciousness, 80% burn injuries, the loss of a hand or foot, eye disorders, heart attacks and poisoning.  

According to the Housing Act 2004, these types of hazard create an obligation for local authorities to either force the property to be vacated or to require immediate repair.

The English Housing survey states that in the UK, almost five million dwellings contained such hazards and that 1.9 million dwellings contained dangerous steps and stairs.

Stuart Pearce, CEO of SearchFlow said:

“Many homeowners are unaware they live with serious hazards every day. 

"When private dwellings are assessed by local authorities, there’s a one in five chance there will be a hazard present which requires immediate attention. 

"This is a cost most property owners don’t factor into their plans and can therefore prove very hard to deal with. 

"If you don’t make the required repairs – even if you can’t afford to – local authorities have the power to issue prohibition orders, which mean you aren’t legally allowed to live there any longer.  In this situation, the only option for the owner may be to sell at a knockdown price”.

The most dangerous type of property is converted flats, in which 37.7% contain at least one CATEGORY 1 hazard. 

Private properties proved almost twice as dangerous as social accommodation, with the number containing CATEGORY 1 hazards reaching 23%, compared to just 12% of social housing. 

Older properties are also more dangerous, with 41% of buildings constructed before 1919 containing CATEGORY 1 hazards compared to just 4.6% of properties built in the last 20 years.

Stuart Pearce continues:

“The number of private properties requiring repair compared to social housing demonstrates the depth of most private homeowners’ ignorance of the law.

"Local authorities are well aware that CATEGORY 1 hazards must be repaired immediately and this explains the much lower incidence of hazards in social housing in England. 

"If cash-strapped councils can keep their properties safe, more needs to be done to make private owners aware of the dangers within their properties.”

Despite the high overall cost of repair, the majority of CATEGORY 1 hazards can be remedied relatively cheaply. 

For instance, the average cost of repairing stairs to remove a CATEGORY 1 hazard is less than £1,000 in 85% of cases – although the cost can rise to approximately £4,000 in some cases.

Stuart Pearce says:

“For most property owners, the costs of repairing to remove serious hazards is relatively modest and is less than £1,000.  But in extreme cases with multiple problems, it could prove far more expensive. 

"Property owners who don’t want to be hit with an unwelcome ultimatum from their local authorities must pay attention to the regulations and execute repairs before it’s too late.”
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