Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister and housing secretary, set out measures to protect renters from fire safety defects, damp and mould in her speech at the Labour Party conference on Sunday, 22 September.

Rayner committed to “building homes fit for the future”, while also pledging to bring forward a Remediation Acceleration Plan this autumn to speed up the removal of unsafe cladding on high-rise buildings.

Other measures Rayner announced included consulting on a new “decent homes standard” for the social and private rented sectors, and a new law to make landlords respond to complaints about disrepair within legally binding timescales.

Below is the part of Rayner’s speech that related to housing at the Labour Party Conference:
“14 years of Tory chaos has not just left its mark on people’s jobs, but on homes too. Not enough are being built. The Tories failed to meet their targets year, after year, after year. Michael Gove handed back nearly £2bn to the Treasury in unspent housing funds. Mortgages have soared. Leaseholders are left at the mercy of eye-watering charges. Renters face crippling rent hikes in damp and mouldy homes. Homelessness is all around us.