Hundreds of homes in Swindon are failing to meet good standards.

The Government’s English Housing Survey has revealed 3.6 million homes across the country were deemed ‘non-decent’ because they could either pose a risk to residents’ health or life, are in a bad state of repair, are cold or lack modern facilities.

The annual survey asks people at a sample of addresses about the state and quality of their housing.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities figures show 12 per cent of all 98,630 occupied homes in Swindon failed to meet the government’s official Decent Homes Standard, which is lower than the average rate of 15 per cent across the country.

In Swindon, 17 per cent of private rented homes were deemed non-decent along with 13 per cent of all social homes.

Overall, across England the proportion of private rented homes found to be in bad condition (23 per cent) was twice as high as social housing homes (11 per cent).

Matt Copeland, head of policy at NEA, said current incentives and regulations are not sufficient to get landlords to improve their properties.

He added: “In general, action on energy efficiency has been poor for the last decade. It’s a key pillar for fighting fuel poverty and reaching our binding net zero target.

“Behind the statistics and targets are real lives being ruined by cold, damp housing.”

Across the country, nine per cent of all 23.9 million homes had category one hazards observed, which are the most serious hazards. The figure stood at 6 per cent in Swindon.

David Finch, assistant director of the healthy lives directorate at the Health Foundation, said: “A decent home is one of the building blocks for living a healthy life, but safety hazards in the home can lead to injury or harm.

“Damp homes can affect respiratory health, leading to asthma, coughing, and wheezing, with cold homes also linked to higher winter deaths.”

A DLUHC spokesperson said: “Our landmark Renters Reform Bill is progressing through Parliament. The Bill will deliver a fairer private rented sector for both responsible tenants and good faith landlords.

“Everyone has the right to a warm, secure and decent home, and we expect landlords to meet our energy efficiency standards before letting properties.

“We are introducing a Decent Homes Standard in the private rented sector for the first time and also bringing in the Social Housing (Regulation) Act, which will deliver significant changes across the sector to ensure landlords are held to account for their performance.”