Home safety.

There are more accidents in the home than many other environments, yet there is no duty on local authorities to promote domestic safety per se and the discretionary powers under the Home Safety Act 1961 are rarely used. The local authority remit in safe housing is therefore largely through housing enforcement and grant led activity. The main statutory controls available to local authorities in addressing home safety are found under various Housing Acts, in particular the statutory standard of fitness for habitation, which can provide remedy for some, although not all, potential home accidents. There are many potential hazards in the home which current legislation fails to address. This is one reason why a new standard of assessing domestic conditions--the Housing Health and Safety Rating System--is currently being considered. This new system seeks to change the current emphasis on a 'materials and construction specification' type approach to a system based on known domestic hazards and their reduction ('performance specification') although there remains much debate around the subject. This paper considers the current and proposed systems and other opportunities available to local authorities in addressing the major area of home safety.