Mould and damp spreading like a rash across the walls, freezing conditions, energy bills going through the roof. Week after week, private renters in my South London constituency come to me with these kinds of issues, frustrated by landlords who ignore their complaints and anxious about the implications for their health and finances.
At the root of these problems is one thing: poor energy efficiency. After a decade of shredded environmental standards and a succession of botched insulation schemes, the UK has some of the leakiest homes in Western Europe.
Research from Generation Rent has found that nearly four million private renters in England and Wales regularly struggle to pay their energy bills, while just over three and a half million live in homes with damp or mould.
More worryingly, nearly half of those who regularly struggle with energy costs say they have had to cut back on daily essentials like food, while more than a quarter have gone into debt.
Poor conditions in rented homes are making people and planet sick
It’s therefore no surprise that official government statistics show more than one in five private renters are living in fuel poverty, the worst rate among all housing tenures. Meanwhile, according to the National Audit Office, the UK’s 28 million homes accounted for 18% of all UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2021, the most recent year for which data is available.
Poor conditions in Britain’s rented homes are making both people and our planet sick. DESNEZ’s ambition to upgrade all privately rented homes to Energy Performance Certificate C or above by 2030 is extremely welcome.
The latest private landlord survey found that only around a third of landlords who rent out homes with poor energy efficiency ratings plan to improve them, so government action on this issue is sorely needed.
In my own constituency of Clapham & Brixton Hill, 53% of privately rented homes will need to be improved in the next five years. The national figure is even higher at 55%. This is a mammoth task that requires serious investment.
It is right that the Government’s core aim is to reduce fuel poverty. But the National Residential Landlords Association is already briefing that landlords will be looking to recoup the cost of investment in energy efficiency improvements by increasing rents.
There’s nothing to stop landlords cashing in on increased property value
When I tabled a parliamentary question on this issue, the energy minister cited protections within the Renters’ Rights Bill as sufficient to prevent this. But Generation Rent’s polling found nearly seven in ten private renters have never heard of the First-Tier Tribunal (the system renters can use to challenge rent hikes).’ Meanwhile, less than one in five would be ‘very likely’ to challenge a rent increase. In any case, there is nothing to stop landlords from evicting tenants to sell their property and cash in on its increase in value, delivered with public money.
This issue is even more concerning where landlords receive government grants to make improvement works, means-tested based on their tenants’ lower income. I heard one story of a family whose landlord had substantial energy efficiency upgrades installed with support from a grant. Once the upgrades were done, the landlord hiked up the rent by £500 a month, meaning the family faced a massive shortfall between their housing benefit and the rent, ultimately leading to their eviction.
The success of this policy can’t rely on an unstable combination of the goodwill of landlords and an inaccessible, opaque redress system. That’s why I tabled an Early Day Motion, calling on the Government to strengthen protections for renters as part of its Warm Homes Plan, with a focus on instances where public money is used.
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This could easily be achieved through some simple amendments to the Renters’ Rights Bill, but unfortunately the Government recently rejected an amendment from Baroness Jenny Jones which would have given renters stronger protections against rent hikes when a landlord receives a grant.
Private renters were the tenure type most likely to vote Labour in 2024. These votes were based on a promise to reform our broken renting system. They must not be taken for granted. Generation Rent’s polling also asked renters about their support for the government’s policies in this area.
Net support increased by 41 points from +14% to +55% when renters were given a scenario where the government would protect them from rent increases versus when they were told their rent would increase because of improvements.
With Reform claiming the push towards net zero as something that will hit working people in the pocket, it’s vital we get policies like this right. We need to protect renters from eviction and unaffordable rent hikes. If renters enjoy the benefits of their new warmer home and cheaper bills, it will show that policies which tackle the climate emergency can also directly benefit working people.
