Housing hazards and licences: April 2016 to March 2017

Main points

• During 2016-17, local authorities carried out 6,076(a) assessments under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, a decrease of 3% on the previous year.
• As was the case last year, over two thirds (68%) of all assessments made during 2016-17 recorded no Category 1 hazards.
• During 2016-17, Category 1 hazards were found in 1,949 (32%) of all assessments made. The most common Category 1 hazard found in both HMOs and non-HMO dwellings was ‘Excess Cold’.
• Action by local authorities, during 2016-17, resulted in 1,263 Category 1 hazards being resolved, of which 802 (63%) were in non-HMO dwellings and 461 (37%) were in HMOs.
• At 31 March 2017, local authorities estimated there were approximately 18,174 HMOs in total in Wales, and of these 81% (14,722) were known to local authorities compared with 79% the previous year.
• The overall number of licensed HMOs across Wales has increased steadily over recent years with 8,839 licensed HMOs reported at 31 March.

(a) Includes estimated figures for Denbighshire and Wrexham as they were unable to provide data on assessments containing category 1 and 2 hazards during the year.