Energy Bill [HL]

Debate between Baroness Noakes and Lord Jenkin of Roding

Monday 24th January 2011 Grand Committee

[Baroness Noakes]

My Lords, I have Amendment 20L grouped with this. Unfortunately I did not see the grouping before I got in today, and I am not sure it fits particularly well with Amendment 20KA. I support what the noble Baroness said about the review being capable of including other issues, whether specified by the Secretary of State or determined to be appropriate by the reviewer. I suggest that if that is what she wants she should have tabled the amendment differently—to say whether the Secretary of State should specify additional matters or whether the reviewer should be empowered to consider whatever other matters he wants. It seems to me a sensible flexibility to introduce into the Bill in some way.

Amendment 20L is rather different. I support the necessity of a review prior to the implementation of the private rented sector provisions of the Bill. The amendment is inspired by a briefing from the British Property Federation. It is differently expressed from the suggested amendment; my noble friend, Lord Jenkin, who has an amendment in this group, has followed the suggested amendment more faithfully.

Clause 36(5)(b) requires this review to include a consideration of the extent to which financial assistance is available to landlords of private rented properties for the purpose of taking measures to improve their energy-efficiency. My amendment takes this further, and asks that the review also examines the extent to which such financial assistance is known to be available. There is a world of difference between something being available and people knowing that it is. My noble friend Lord Jenkin’s amendment focuses on the amount of marketing effort and the sums spent in making landlords aware of financial assistance. To that extent his amendment focuses on the inputs to the process, while mine tries to focus on the outputs: in other words, whether there has actually been knowledge of the financial assistance available. For example, if the marketing in the early stages of the Green Deal is not addressed to landlords in the private rented sector, there may be zero knowledge of that in the sector.

Alternatively, landlords might know about the availability of financial assistance, not through marketing efforts from Green Deal providers, for example, but through trade bodies or the media. We cannot assume that because financial assistance is available landlords are aware of it and ready to act on it. It is important that the powers in this chapter are not activated unless and until there is awareness of financial assistance among private rented sector landlords.

[Lord Jenkin of Roding]

My Lords, as my noble friend Lady Noakes has indicated, Amendment 20MA in my name follows a recommendation from the British Property Federation. The federation makes the important point—which I may have made earlier—that the energy-efficiency supply sector does not have a good record of approaching private rented properties. It is much easier to take the low-hanging fruit provided by the owner-occupier properties, where the owner is the one paying the energy bills. The private rented sector has hitherto not been approached formally—other than perhaps in a number of cases—but that needs to happen. Therefore, the suggestion in my amendment is—as my noble friend Lady Noakes has said—that there should be a clear review of the efforts made to bring this whole process to the attention of both landlords and tenants.

I imagine that many noble Lords will share my experience of having people in their families who are both landlords and tenants—some are landlords and some are tenants. Of course, the biggest single problem is always to get both parties to see that an improvement will be to both their advantages. That will require a considerable effort. All that I am saying is that the review must take account of the efforts that are being and could be made to spread the awareness both of the process and of the mutual advantage that will come to landlords from the enhancement of the value of their property, and to tenants from lower energy bills and perhaps a more comfortable house. That will take some effort. The review must recognise that and form a view on how successful the measures have been to date.