Housing hazards and licences: April 2017 to March 2018

Main points

• During 2017-18, local authorities carried out 6,282(a) assessments under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, an increase of 3% on the previous year.
• Over two thirds (70%) of all assessments made during 2017-18 recorded no Category 1 hazards.
• During 2017-18, Category 1 hazards were found in 1,860 (30%) of all assessments made. The most common Category 1 hazard found in both HMOs and non-HMO dwellings continued to be ‘Excess Cold’.
• Action by local authorities, during 2017-18, resulted in 1,224 Category 1 hazards being resolved, of which 881 (72%) were in non-HMO dwellings and 343 (28%) were in HMO.
• At 31 March 2018, local authorities estimated there were approximately 19,250 HMOs in total in Wales, and of these 77% (14,880) were known to local authorities compared with 81% the previous year.
• The overall number of licensed HMOs across Wales has increased steadily over recent years with 8,870 licensed HMOs reported at 31 March 2018.

(a) Includes estimated figures for Cardiff, as the authority was unable to provide data on assessments containing category 1 and 2 hazards during the year.