How Bolton Council tackled poor housing to protect vulnerable tenants

Bolton Council needed to understand the condition of its private sector housing but had only a limited budget to achieve this.

BRE’s Housing Stock Condition Model provided an opportunity to get the information they needed at a significantly lower cost than undertaking a full survey.

Bolton also needed to develop a new policy approach for tackling private sector housing that was in poor condition at a time when the Council was facing cuts. The approach needed to fit with the Council’s priorities of protecting the most vulnerable and to stimulate the local economy, without increasing demand for services.

Bolton used BRE’s Housing Stock Condition Model to help identify properties at risk of failing decency. The stock condition model was able to predict the presence of housing hazards, energy efficiency levels, disrepair, fuel poverty and low income households.. Using this data, Bolton were able to obtain an overall indication of the level of poor housing conditions and the potential costs for rectifying.