Decent Homes Information

South Cambs District Council (SCDC) has agreed a programme of repairs for the next three-five years to ensure that all social housing in the district meets new requirements.

The requirement to collect and assess information about the condition of social housing in the district was announced in the 2001 Government policy statement "The Way Forward" which stated that all social housing should meet the Decent Homes criteria by 2010.

A Decent Home is one that meets the following criteria:

It is in a reasonable state of repair
It has reasonably modern facilities and services
It is a reasonable temperature

The Government targets are:

That all social housing meets the Decent Homes standard by 2010
To reduce the number of households in social housing which do not meet standards by a third between 2001-2004

An independent Stock Condition Survey was undertaken in November 2006. A sample of 24.5% of our housing stock was surveyed, and the level of properties failing the Government's decent homes standard was estimated at 25%. This compares favourably with the national average failure rate of 43%. Subsequently the Council have been undertaking work and devising a maintenance plan to ensure that all of our dwellings are made Decent by the end of 2010.