Member

Without action, ongoing access challenges risk undermining both resident safety and the quality of homes, placing continued strain on housing association resources and, most importantly, exposing residents to avoidable harm. My view is that the access for safety amendment represents a proportionate and effective solution. It is modelled on an analogous power in Section 97 of the Building Safety Act 2022, which allows for access to premises to be ordered in certain prescribed circumstances. It established a structured three-stage request process for limited but important cases where access is required to ensure safety, applying only a narrow set of statutory checks, and over a period of three months. I hope the Government will consider whether this approach strikes the right balance between enabling social landlords to keep homes safe and respecting tenants’ right to quiet enjoyment.