Demanding homes fit for habitation
Housing provision is in a state of crisis. It is estimated* that over 8 million people in England are living in unaffordable, insecure or unsuitable homes. Over 400,000 people are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Over the last decade, research by the Law School’s Dr Edward Kirton-Darling in collaboration with Professor David Cowan (Cardiff) has helped drive the legal and cultural reform needed to tackle the issues that disproportionately impact those who are marginal to housing provision - including families, tenants, tower block residents, vulnerable adults and armed forces veterans.
*National Housing Federation, 2019
Impact: At-a-glance
- Research supports reform of housing law in England and Wales, impacting nearly all rented properties**
- New legislation provides for better protection and conditions for tenants
- Changes support people most vulnerable to harm and homelessness
**Property less than seven years in UK
Driving change post-Grenfell
In the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire, drawing on their longstanding interest in housing law, Professor Cowan and Dr Kirton-Darling led the research for an influential ‘Closing the Gaps’ report commissioned by the housing and homelessness charity, Shelter. The report investigated the failings in the law which had been so starkly revealed by the disaster.
The Shelter report made it clear that the law relating to health and safety in homes was piecemeal, complex and patchily enforced - largely because it was based on an outmoded Victorian heritage that lacked coherence depending on an occupier’s housing tenure. In Grenfell Tower itself, the occupiers had a range of housing tenures that made legal adjudication problematic.
The report recommended both legal reform and cultural change, so that those responsible for the health and safety of occupiers become proactive in fulfilling those responsibilities.
The impact was far reaching, directly influencing Shelter's lobbying strategy for housing conditions in England and, ultimately, the successful passage the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act in Parliament.
The Homes Bill, now enacted, will affect every social and private rented tenancy of less than seven years in England, covering around 8.8 million properties. It also makes provisions that ensure landlords must provide and maintain residential rented accommodation in a state of fitness for human habitation.
'The Homes Bill, now enacted, will affect every social and private rented tenancy of less than seven years in England, covering around 8.8 million properties. It also makes provisions that ensures landlords provide and maintain residential rented accommodation in a state of fitness for human habitation.'
Wider impact
Helping to drive cultural change, Dr Kirton-Darling’s research went beyond legal reform and enabled two NGOs to develop tools that empowered tenants to challenge unsafe housing conditions and hold landlords to account. This work took the form of the Tower Blocks UK Fire Safety Checklist, developed in partnership with Tower Blocks UK - and the FixMyBlock online toolkit, developed in partnership with mySociety.
Prior to the Grenfell fire, and directly influencing the change that has happened after it, Cowan and Kirton-Darling’s earlier research provided the legal underpinning and evidential basis for the regulation of nearly all rented accommodation in Wales. The Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 created a unified rental housing market, clearer right and responsibilities for tenants and landlords and a radical overhaul of repairing standards.
Additional research by Dr Kirton-Darling has also highlighted the growing problem of homelessness amongst armed forces veterans – prompting a new Homelessness Code of Guidance published by the government in 2018 that included, for the first time, a specific chapter on veterans. The research also led to London local authorities putting greater emphasis on priority housing for veterans and the London Mayor to appoint the city’s first Armed Forces Champion.
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It's no secret we're living in a contemporary housing crisis and poor housing and homelessness is causing needless death and illnesses. But the extent of the crisis at the moment is particularly stark. My area of interest is where law connects with this crisis - and unpicking the way the law enables the crisis to continue.
Publications
- Helen Carr, Dave Cowan, Edward Kirton-Darling: Marginalisation, Grenfell Tower and the voice of the social-housing resident: a critical juncture in housing law and policy? — University of Bristol
- Ed Kirton-Darling, Caroline Hunger, Helen Carr: It's time to reform the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 — University of Bristol
Further information
Dr Kirton-Darling’s research, undertaken whilst at University of Kent,provides an evidence base illustrating the extent to which unaffordability and scarcity, poor conditions and minimal security are causing stress, illness and even death.
Professor Cowan’s research across housing law continues to demonstrate its complexity and provide remedies for vulnerable people. Professor Cowan is now a Professor of Law at Cardiff University.
Cowan and Kirton-Darling continue to collaborate across a range of housing law projects. Together, their work is helping to drive changes needed to make the UK a better and safer place to live - particularly for those at the lower end of the private rented sector.