Green campaigners have urged Rishi Sunak not to water down plans to make landlords improve the energy efficiency of their properties.
Activists fear that the 2028 date for all rented properties to have an energy efficiency rating of C or better could be pushed back after the Prime Minister said he wanted to ensure action on climate change was “proportionate and pragmatic”.
Over the weekend, cabinet minister Michael Gove suggested the deadline for improving energy efficiency could be pushed back due to the high costs involved.
Mr Gove, the Housing Secretary, told the Daily Telegraph: “My own strong view is that we’re asking too much too quickly.
“We do want to move towards greater energy efficiency, but just at this point, when landlords face so much, I think that we should relax the pace that’s been set for people in the private rented sector, particularly because many of them are currently facing a big capital outlay in order to improve that efficiency.”
Letting landlords off the hook will only further risk the Government missing its legally binding climate and fuel poverty targets— Chris Venables, Green Alliance political director
On Monday, environmental groups urged the Government not to delay its energy efficiency target.
Chris Venables, political director of the Green Alliance think tank, said: “With millions of people on the front line of a cost-of-living crisis driven by sky-rocketing energy bills, it is alarming to see Sunak proposing to weaken already insufficient plans to make sure renters have well-insulated homes.
“Letting landlords off the hook will only further risk the Government missing its legally binding climate and fuel poverty targets, never mind playing politics with the lives of the elderly and the vulnerable as we head into another difficult winter.”
Robbie MacPherson, political adviser at climate group Uplift, said: “We have seen what happens when governments ‘ditch the green crap’ – energy bills spike, climate breakdown worsens and struggling households pay the price.
“Landlords must be front and centre in ensuring that renters are provided with safe, warm homes. Energy efficiency and renewables are the answer to fixing Britain’s broken energy system, not new oil and gas fields like Rosebank which receive billions in tax breaks despite record profiteering from industry.
“We must avoid another winter where pensioners and other vulnerable households are faced with impossible choices again because of government dithering.”
Asked whether the Government was delaying the deadline, Downing Street said it was “considering the correct approach” as ministers scrutinised net zero plans.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It’s right that we ensure proposals take into account the wider developments in energy efficiency and private rented sectors including the upcoming review of the EPC system, the Renters’ Reform Bill, the introduction of the decent home standard in the private sector.
“That’s to ensure that the costs and circumstances relating to energy efficiency improvement are fair and proportionate for landlords and tenants.”
The current proposals would see all new tenancies required to have an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of C or above by 2025, with this expanded to all existing tenancies by 2028.
More than half of tenants live in homes with an EPC rating of D or below, with poorer tenants more likely to live in less energy efficient homes.
Climate change think tank E3G estimated that improving energy efficiency would save renters an average of £570, but landlords would be expected to pay the first £10,000 of any energy efficiency work themselves.
A consultation on the energy efficiency target ended in January 2021, but the Government is still to respond.
Landlords welcomed the suggestion the deadline could be delayed, saying a lack of clarity meant there was no hope of meeting the deadline.
Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said: “The NRLA wants to see properties as energy efficient as possible, but the sector needs certainty about how and when this will happen.
“Ministers need to develop a proper plan that includes a fair financial package to support improvements in the private rented sector.
“We will continue to work with all parties to develop pragmatic and workable proposals.”
