Housing Solicitors

Friends of the Earth (FOE) has responded to the announcement that private landlords will be compelled to make rental homes more energy efficient, by saying that the new legislation introduced on Thursday (05/02/15) does not go far enough.

The ecology campaigner group has led the push for tougher rules on private sector landlords who rent out draughty homes to tenants – often at high rents, despite the property being cold and energy inefficient.

FOE energy campaigner Sophie Neuburg said:

“New rules aimed at ensuring that private rented homes are properly insulated are long overdue – but unfortunately these changes don’t go far enough.

“The new regulations only ban the most dangerously cold homes – and are riddled with loopholes which unscrupulous landlords can take advantage of.

“Regulations requiring private rented homes to be insulated to a far higher standard are vital to prevent cash-strapped tenants shivering in heat-leaking homes – and to help reduce the nation’s contribution to global climate change.“

The Telegraph reports that, under the new legislation, private sector landlords could have to spend as much as £9,000 on insulating buy-to-let rental properties built in the Edwardian and Victoria eras, according to the National Landlords Association.

Some private landlords will be able to take out loans to make properties more energy efficient under the Green Deal – but from April 2018, rental properties will all have to be at least Band E for energy efficiency.

There are currently 450,000 homes which fall below that level, and are in either Band F or Band G for energy efficiency. Homes in these bands are among the worst for insulation – and owners who rent them out will be required to significantly increase energy efficiency by 2018, potentially at a substantial cost.

Some local authorities are already ensuring that council homes are more energy efficient – Sheffield City Housing and its partners are already working to install energy efficient boilers in council homes, according to social housing website Dash24.com.

Since April 2013, the local authority has replaced 180 heating systems and boilers a month on average – and replacement of heating systems and boilers at council homes in Sheffield will continue at the same rate for the next three years.

From mid November 2014 to mid January 2015, the council’s maintenance firm also completed 1,221 boiler repairs – with 98.4% of repairs to council home boilers completed the same day.

Sheffield Council says that, over the next five years, a total of 11,000 heating systems will be upgraded by the council and its partners.

The council added that public sector housing tenants with a new boiler or heating system could anticipate a 15-20% saving in annual gas bills over a typical year.

Duncan Lewis Housing Solicitors

Duncan Lewis is a leading firm of housing law solicitors and can advise private rental tenants and public sector tenants on a wide range of housing matters, including:

• Disrepair of rented property
• Housing benefit
• Housing possession
• Landlord & Tenant disputes
• Unlawful eviction.

Duncan Lewis is also a leading firm of Legal Aid solicitors.
For expert legal advise on housing law, call Duncan Lewis housing solicitors on 020 7923 4020.