Four in five landlords want stricter energy efficiency rules

Almost four in five (79%) of landlords are in favour of raising the minimum energy efficiency standard (MEES) on rental properties, Social Market Foundation (SMF) has found.

A new survey by the group has indicated that private sector landlords are more supportive of raising the MEES to grade C, compared to the general population, with just 11% of private landlords opposing the move.

Currently, the MEES is set to an E, which means that landlords are allowed to lease their properties if it gets an E rating on energy efficiency. The private rented sector is the worst performing tenure for energy efficiency in the UK, according to SMF.

In September, the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, scrapped plans to require all landlords to upgrade their properties to at least EPC C by 2028, citing the need to protect tenants from unfair price hikes in rent due to the costs of renovations.

However, SMF stated it has already highlighted that private renters in England and Wales are on track to waste £1.1bn (£220 per household) on energy that leaks out their walls and windows.

SMF also said that some landlords said as part of the survey that they were frustrated at the uncertainty created by the Government’s perceived indecisiveness and were worried that the goalposts might be moved once more.

Others were upset at having spent substantial sums of money on improving their houses, only to discover that it was unnecessary.

SMF said it found that effective regulation is critical to improving energy efficiency in the PRS, with those that have made improvements tending to want to get ahead of regulatory change, while a lack of clarity encourages landlords to delay the decision.

Furthermore, SMF suggested that economic incentives, such as making the costs of insulating a property tax deductible from rental income, are another way to spur on landlords, but will be difficult to justify to the public, since only a quarter of people would support these incentives being available to all landlords.

Adding to this, the firm also stated that a better approach would be to improve take-up of existing support, such as the ECO4 and Great British Insulation Scheme. However, just over a fifth of landlords remain unaware of any such schemes.

Researcher at SMF, Niamh O’Regan, said: "British homes are on a dismal trajectory when it comes to improving energy efficiency, and failing to improve the private rented sector is losing an easy win.

"Recent Government actions seem to suggest that renters can either have energy efficient homes or affordable rents – but this is a false logic. Poor energy efficiency is currently costing them millions. Instead of trying to understand landlords and how they can be motivated to better insulate their properties, the Government would rather kick the can down the road, pushing us further and further from greener, healthier and more net-zero friendly homes."



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