The review of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS2) has laid the groundwork for significant improvements in the enforcement of housing standards. With the technical framework now agreed, attention turns to the next critical phase: implementation through the parliamentary process. This article explores how these reforms become law.

The HHSRS is embedded in primary legislation (the Housing Act 2004), but detailed operational changes, such as hazard amalgamation and updated guidance, require secondary legislation. This is achieved through statutory instruments (SIs), which enable the government to introduce technical reforms through parliamentary oversight. The HHSRS in England currently operates under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (England) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/3208), which provides the statutory framework for hazard assessment and enforcement under the Housing Act 2004.

In order to update the current statutory instrument, there are two possible principal parliamentary procedural routes. The first is ‘negative resolution procedure’, thought to apply to around 75% of secondary legislation made. Under this approach, the SI is made and laid before Parliament and becomes law automatically unless annulled within 40 ‘parliamentary sitting’ days. MPs or Lords can table a ‘prayer’ motion to annul, but debates are rare and annulments even rarer. This procedure is typically reserved for routine measures and technical updates.

Alternatively, under an ‘affirmative resolution procedure,’ both Houses must actively approve a piece of secondary legislation before it can become law; this usually applies to legislative changes of greater significance. The process involves:

1. Drafting and laying the instrument in draft form for scrutiny

2. Legal clarity and compliance are examined by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments

3. Delegated legislation committees in the Houses of Commons and the Lords debate the SI; approval by both Houses is mandatory.

In urgent cases, a ‘made then laid’ format allows the SI to come into force immediately, subject to retrospective approval within 28–40 days. During the COVID‑19 pandemic, for instance, the government utilised the ‘made then laid’ (made affirmative) procedure extensively, particularly under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984.

Implementation through the parliamentary process

The changes proposed as part of the HHSRS review have set a clear direction for modernising housing safety standards. However, these reforms cannot take effect until they pass through one of the formal legislative processes described above. 

Moving from policy to practice is more than just an administrative step; it is the next critical mechanism that transforms the recommendations and draft guidance developed as part of the HHSRS review into statutory law. In practice, these stages involve:

1. The government confirming HHSRS2 recommendations

2. Drafting and preparing the SI through government legal teams

3. Laying the draft SIs before Parliament, either as made (negative procedure) or laid in draft (affirmative procedure)

4. The process of parliamentary committee review, including debate and scrutiny where required

5. Parliamentary approval or annulment to determine whether the SI becomes law.

Extensive progress has been made in developing the technical framework for HHSRS2. However, we have reached the critical stage: the review’s findings must now transition from technical development into statutory law, the point at which policy becomes enforceable by local authorities. 

See also

UK Parliament, Tracking the progress of delegated legislation, available at: https://guidetoprocedure.parliament.uk/collections/PMJWVx9p/tracking-the-progress-of-delegated-legislation (accessed 8 January 2026).

Joe Marshall, Secondary legislation: How is it scrutinised?, Institute for Government, 19 May 2020, available at: https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/secondary‑legislation‑scrutiny (accessed 8 January 2026).