Renters have told ministers that any delay to new energy efficiency rules for privately let homes risks making people sick as they are forced to turn down the heating in winter.
The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, is reported to be ready to pause requirements for new lettings to meet tougher insulation standards by 2025, after landlords lobbied ministers saying many could not afford it.
Dan Wilson Craw, the deputy chief executive of Generation Rent, a campaign group, said it was “very disappointing to see the government is preparing to step back from this proposal”, while the London Renters Union said: “The government must not force renters to endure another winter in dangerously cold homes.”
Acorn, a community union that regularly supports private tenants, said: “It is disgraceful, if not surprising, that the government has caved to the landlord lobby on this urgent issue.”
Wilson Craw said: “There are about 1.2m households in the private rented sector living in fuel poverty. These regulations are essential if we are going to lift those people out of fuel poverty and any delay is to keep people in that horrible situation. If you can’t afford to heat your home you are more susceptible to health issues that can arise from cold.”
In 2021, the government proposed that all new lettings in the private rented sector should have an energy performance certificate rated C or above. But it has yet to deliver on that consultation and at the weekend, Michael Gove, the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, said: “My own strong view is that we’re asking too much too quickly.”
He said he wanted to “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”.
The apparent move, reported first by the Financial Times and Sky News, comes after the Uxbridge and Ruislip byelection result in which the Conservatives recorded a surprise victory after opposing the extension of the Labour London mayor’s ultra-low emission zone clean air initiative.
The National Residential Landlords Association, a lobby group, has also met ministers to argue against the new demand, and said while it wanted to “see properties as energy efficient as possible … the sector needs certainty about how and when this will happen.”
Ben Beadle, the chief executive, said: “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.”
A spokesperson for the London Renters Union said: “It’s not fair that many people become ill because their landlord is letting out poorly insulated housing that is damp, mouldy, or excessively cold. Our members frequently report private landlords failing to meet existing energy efficiency standards. As rents and bills continue to skyrocket, the coming winters are set to push many more into unsafe conditions as families have no choice but to turn down the heating.”
They said: “The government must prioritise the safety of renters over the profit margins of landlords by ensuring all privately rented homes are properly insulated and that all landlords who fail to make the necessary improvements to their properties face enforcement action.”
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities proposals said it needed to take into account the upcoming review of the EPC system, the renters reform bill, and introduction of the decent homes standard in the private rented sector and ensure costs were fair and proportionate for landlords and tenants.
