Landlords to be banned from letting out 'cold' homes

Up to one million tenants to benefit from energy changes.

The Department of Energy & Climate Change Ed Davey has announced new regulations that will keep rented homes warmer.

From April 2016, residential private landlords will have to work on improving their properties’ energy efficiency upon request, and from April 2018 will be banned from renting properties that don’t meet prescribed energy efficiency standards.

Reasonable requests can’t be denied

Under the regulations, landlords will have to agree to requests to improve efficiency from April 2016, so long as they are reasonable and they can get help through support like Green Deal finance, the Energy Companies Obligation, or grants from the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund.

This means that landlords won’t necessarily need to pay for new boiler installations or new insulation measures, and only have to make improvements that are cost effective.

Cold homes ‘banned’ from April 2018

From April 2018, it will be against the law to let a property that falls below an energy efficiency rating of at least Band ‘E’. On average, the difference in a heating bill between the least energy efficient properties and those in Band ‘E’ is £880.

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey said that the new laws “will plug the gaps in draughty homes – helping households to keep warm and drive down bills,” while Richard Lambert, CEO of the National Landlords Association said that a delicate balance had been struck between “making clear what is expected and ensuring that there is a realistic prospect of landlords being able to comply”.

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The benefits

The Department of Energy & Climate Change told lovemoney.com that although any Green Deal loan is paid off through energy bills – which are likely the responsibility of a tenant rather than their landlord – the savings granted by the newly installed insulation would even out the balance.

This would come about due to a reduction in fuel usage thanks to the improvements, so that tenants should pay the same amount as before or even less, but live in a warmer home. At the same time, landlords benefit from having their property improved and made more energy efficient for future tenants.

Tenants living in cold homes right now will have to endure another winter before they can make any requests that the landlord is obliged to listen to. However, they could save up to several hundred pounds on the cost of their energy bill as it stands by switching energy supplier.

Other energy plans

A £25 million fund is being allocated to support the installation of central heating for the first time into off-grid households. More details of these plans will be announced in the Government’s Fuel Poverty Strategy which will be published soon.

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