Welsh government says landlords need crucial financial help

The Welsh government has acknowledged that landlords will need financial help to improve their rental homes to meet energy efficiency targets.

The announcement comes after all 29 recommendations of the Senedd’s Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee’s report on the decarbonisation of the private rented sector, either in full or in principle.

Among the issues that were accepted is a call by the committee for the government to provide more detail about how regulatory standards will be used to implement retrofit activity across the private rented sector in Wales.

Many landlords will be forced to take drastic action

The Welsh government responded by saying that it concedes that Wales’ ageing private rented housing stock means that many landlords will be forced to take drastic action to meet energy efficiency targets.

And that potential outlay means many landlords may choose to sell up – or commission cheaper retrofits which may not be as effective over the long term.

Some landlords may also pass the costs of work on to tenants.

‘Landlords in Wales are faced with substantial challenges’

The chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), Ben Beadle, said: “We welcome the Welsh government’s response. To say that landlords in Wales are faced with substantial challenges at the moment would be an understatement, so it is pleasing to see that the government understands our predicament when it comes to retrofitting rental properties.

“This follows extensive campaigning from the NRLA on the issue.”

Retrofitting a rental property could be prohibitive for landlords

Mr Beadle highlights that the cost of retrofitting a rental property could be prohibitive for landlords – not helped by the lack of any financial support for such work.

He added: “Although we broadly concur with the Welsh government’s statement, much more work is needed to offer financial assistance to landlords looking to increase the energy efficiency of their properties.”

Part of the government’s response was an acknowledgement that the introduction of revised Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) by the UK Government will probably need some form of financial assistance for Welsh landlords.

Specifically, they say that ‘if the UK Government introduces a requirement to meet EPC C and does not provide financial support, there could be a need to look at funding grants and/or loans to support improvements’.

For more information about the Welsh government’s response to the Committee’s decarbonisation report can be found on the Senedd website.