20.Part 1 of the Act replaces the existing housing fitness standard contained in the Housing Act 1985 with the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. It also adapts and extends the powers of enforcement currently available to LHAs to tackle poor housing conditions.
21.These changes are intended to help LHAs to prioritise their intervention based on the severity of the health and safety hazards in the home.
22.The new framework is largely through free-standing provisions, although some of the provisions of the 1985 Act will remain in that Act with appropriate amendments.