Normally I’d be back home in Sheffield on a Friday but this week I’ve stayed down in Parliament to support Karen Buck’s important Bill to make homes fit for human habitation. It’s astonishing that this isn’t currently in law given that one million homes are estimated to currently be unfit to live in. The Bill has now received Government support and will be proceeding to its second reading soon.

It’s currently up to councils to ensure that homes meet safety and health standards, but many of them lack the funds to properly enforce the rules, with many issuing no punishments at all to landlords in the last few years.

Karen Buck has explained in more detail her reasons for driving through this change in this article.