One-in-10 council properties in Doncaster “non-decent”, report reveals
A report has found 1 in 10 council homes are deemed not to meet government standards
More than one-in-10 St Leger Homes of Doncaster (SLHD) properties do not meet the “decent homes standard”, it has been revealed.
11.9 per cent of social properties managed by SLHD, on behalf of the City of Doncaster Council, are below the minimum quality benchmark set by the UK Government.
According to the SLHD performance report for quarter two 2025/26 (July, August, September 2025), to be presented to Mayor Ros Jones’ cabinet this week, it meant 2,368 properties fell below the standard.
The report reads: “This is a significant increase in the number of non-decent properties from Q1 where the position then was 1,494 non-decent properties (or 7.51% of the housing stock).
“The increase is primarily a result of the number of chimneys that have now been identified as being non-decent following uploading of data from last year’s stock condition surveys into our asset database. These have increased from 36 in Q1 to 796 in Q2.”
A property is deemed to be overall non-decent when a key component is no longer in a “reasonable state of repair”, the report said.
“Investment needs to be planned for the key components that are deemed to not be in reasonable repair and as a result are classified as non-decent,” it reads.
“Whilst investment is planned in 25/26 to address non-decency for some components/properties, funding available will not facilitate replacement or large-scale repairs to all failing major components in year. Additional investment in future years, over and above what is already planned, will therefore be required in order to address the non-decent components,” the report adds.
SLHD are reportedly in discussions with Doncaster Council over what resources or support is available for the required investment, with investment plans to be confirmed once funding becomes available.
The report adds: “Additionally, given the significant increase, further data validation is now underway, including physical random sample checks on surveyed properties to confirm chimney and roof condition with findings expected to inform the Q3 update.”
St Leger Homes of Doncaster declined to comment further on the report to cabinet when approached by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Mayor Ros Jones and her cabinet members will discuss the performance report when it meets on Wednesday, December 10, 2025.