Protect tenants from eviction for six years after EPC improvements – call

Tenants should be protected from eviction for six years after their home’s Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) has been improved to help encourage them to apply for grants to help pay for the work.

That’s the verdict of Generation Rent which says that energy efficiency grants have been provided to owner-occupiers at a rate five times higher than that for private renters.

It says that needs to change because rented households are at a higher risk of fuel poverty.

Using data since 2010, the organisation says that fuel poverty has fallen by 35% among owner-occupiers and 54% among council house tenants, whereas the reduction was only 4% among private renters.

The organisation says safeguards against eviction and rent hikes for private renters are needed so tenants can access energy efficiency funding – which will encourage renters to apply for the grants.

A major obstacle is poor security of tenure

Generation Rent says: “A major obstacle to the take-up of grants in the private rented sector is poor security of tenure, which allows landlords whose properties are upgraded to raise the rent, cancelling out any energy bill savings, or evict the tenant in order to sell the improved property.

“While the Renters (Reform) Bill aims to improve protection for tenants from arbitrary evictions, it will still allow these practices so tenants will still have little incentive to apply for a grant.

“We are calling on the government to amend the Bill to protect tenants who receive an energy efficiency grant from eviction on ‘landlord need’ grounds, such as sale, for at least six years, which we estimate to be the time it would take for the average grant to translate into energy bill savings.

“And any increase in rent that reflects the improvements that the grant made to the property when assessed by the First Tier Tribunal.”

The group adds: “Landlords should also be required to raise the energy efficiency rating of their properties to C, to oblige them to accept grant-funded works to their property.”

Private renters experience fuel poverty

Generation Rent says that a higher proportion of private renters – 24% – experience fuel poverty compared to any other housing tenure.

It says there are 1.19 million fuel-poor renting households, whereas there are just 8.8% of owner-occupied households facing the same challenge.

The group says the key to lifting a household out of fuel poverty lies in energy efficiency improvements that boost a home’s EPC rating to a C.

They add that the government should not extend the proposed deadline past 2028, as has been mooted by the Housing Secretary Michael Gove, since the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), which extends grants for insulation households on low incomes would deliver the best solution to grant uptake.