Decent homes deadline should be put back six years, says Webb

Sarah Webb, who is a former head of the community housing taskforce – the ODPM body charged with helping councils meet the 2010 target – said concentrating on bringing homes up to standard diverted resources from wider regeneration under the Communities Plan.

Speaking on Tuesday at the opening session of an ODPM select committee hearing into the standard, Webb said: "I fear that there is a tension with the Communities Plan.

"If you are a large metropolitan local authority with some very poor quality tower blocks, high levels of antisocial behaviour and so on, you may be able to meet the standard – but what you need to do is completely restructure those communities. But the standard is trammelling you towards spending a smaller amount of money. That's our main concern."

Webb said she agreed with MPs who have suggested the definition of decent homes could be expanded and the deadline shifted back six years. "We might want to take a bit longer to get the right outcome rather than push for existing definitions that won't provide sustainable communities," she said.

The standard also came under fire from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Disability Rights Commission and the UK Noise Association.

Representatives at the session told the committee that it did not include enough "liveability" factors. Their criticisms included the target's failure to make homes more accessible for the disabled and to crack down on nuisance noise.

However, Neil McDonald, the ODPM's head of housing, defended the target, saying: "The standard is a minimum standard, it's a trigger for action."

The select committee is due to issue a report on the decent homes target next spring.