'We're going to bust some myths': Level of investment not an issue with 1-in-10 council homes 'non-decent'
One-in-10 council properties not meeting the Decent Homes Standard is not due to lack of investment, Doncaster’s housing tzar has said.
Chris Margrave, chief executive of St Leger Homes of Doncaster (SLHD), said the majority of “non-decent” homes in the local council housing stock were category one or category two hazards.
“The top reason for a category one hazard in our properties is the removal of a carbon monoxide detector… for some reason some people in our properties remove these,” he explained.
Mr Margrave was speaking during a meeting of the overview and scrutiny management committee in the City of Doncaster Council chamber.
Facing multiple questions on the standards in SLHD homes, Mr Margrave told the meeting he would “bust some myths” on the issue.
“I just want us to be absolutely clear the vast majority will be category one or two hazards, rather than a lack of investment in our properties,” he told the committee meeting.
Mr Margrave’s grilling came after a quarterly performance report for SLHD showed the company, which is an arms-length management organisation owned by the council, was below target for properties meeting the Decent Homes Standard.
Doncaster Council’s target for SLHD is to have 97 per cent of properties meet the standard, but after the third quarter of 2025/26, the rate is just under 90 per cent.
Under the government’s housing health and safety rating system, category one hazards represent a serious and immediate risk to health and safety. Category two hazards are of a lower risk and less urgent.
What category a hazard is placed into is determined on multiple factors including the risk of harm and how serious the harm could be.
In a council meeting in February 2026, councillors approved Mayor Ros Jones’ plans to invest £70m in buying, building and maintaining council housing.