Renters (Reform) Bill

Baroness Boycott Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 15th May 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Boycott (CB)]

My Lords, I declare my interests, in particular my interest with Peers for the Planet, which probably provides a clue as to what I will talk about in, and contribute to, this debate—energy efficiency in the private rental sector. I have much enjoyed other noble Lords’ contributions; it has been incredibly interesting. I totally agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Jones: I have had more things coming into my inbox about this debate than about pretty much anything I can remember. Noble Lords have dealt with all the points I agree with, but I will make a few specific points about the environmental effectiveness of the PRS.

Energy efficiency improvements always contribute to better living conditions, as well as tackling emissions from home heating: that is a crucial part of meeting our climate commitments. By improving air temperature, humidity levels and air quality, energy efficiency can help address multiple physical and mental health issues: we have heard a lot about that this afternoon. It can also help reduce fuel poverty by reducing energy demand, and therefore landlords—good for them—can increase the value of their properties; it is a win-win.

However, this is an area where the Government are seriously delaying action. This is particularly disappointing when the CCC highlighted in its last progress report to Parliament that the Government was “off track” in relation to energy efficiency measures in all buildings, with progress in the private sector remaining “slow”. Government policy in this area has been piecemeal and consultation subject to delay. Plans for all tenancies to meet EPC band C by 2028 followed a consultation that ended in January 2021. There has been no response from the Government since then; that is a long time. Instead, in September last year, the Prime Minister “scrapped” the plan on the basis of the financial pressures it could place on landlords—despite evidence, from numerous corners, of the financial and wider benefits for renters, as well as potential benefits for so many landlords, in the form of property value increase and tenant demand, if there is a clear and supportive plan in place.

On the other hand, this Bill offers the Government a real opportunity to reconsider their approach and inject ambition back into making the private rented sector more energy efficient. Indeed, their own 2022 White Paper on making the PRS fairer recognised the impact of poor-quality housing on renters’ health and well-being—which we have heard a lot about today—and their educational attainment, as well as the impact on energy bills and the pressures on low-income renters, and the burden we know it causes on public spending. It also recognised:

“To meet our net zero target, we need to have largely eliminated emissions from our housing stock by 2050”.


This is an important part of it.

I believe that businesses and good landlords would support the Government delivering on their commitments, if they are given the confidence, long-term policy certainty and support they need. Following the Prime Minister’s row-back last September, the National Residential Landlords Association—one of the many groups emailing—said that the Government’s delay in responding to their consultation meant

“there was never any hope of meeting the originally proposed deadlines”,

and that it

“wants to see properties as energy efficient as possible, but the sector needs certainty about how and when”.

The UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association, a finance and investment community of over 300 members managing £19 trillion in assets, also lamented the “stop-start nature of policymaking”, and that the Prime Minister’s announcements had removed the “clear targets” that would give investors confidence. More broadly, hundreds of leading businesses and professional organisations from within the built environment have expressed their concern over the decision to delay or weaken green policies, and disagree with the

“narrative that delaying climate action would reduce costs to households”—

that is something we have debunked in this Chamber many times. They said:

“The longer we delay and the more we see stop-start piecemeal policy … the harder and more expensive the task becomes”.


They have also asked for a national retrofit strategy, which will ultimately pay dividends in tax returns.

The Bill offers the Government an opportunity to respond positively but, as I have mentioned, it is not just about business but about the impact on households, including vulnerable ones, and the question of fairness around delaying action. As the Bill’s Explanatory Notes say, the PRS increasingly provides homes for families and older tenants.

The decision to delay energy efficiency improvements has led to additional costs on fuel bills. Analysis by ECIU showed that, if minimum energy efficiency standards had already been in place, private renters could have saved more than £400 million in total, or £140 per home, in gas bills over the last winter. That is a lot of money if you are on universal credit. Generation Rent research shows that fuel poverty has fallen by only 4% for private renters since 2010. This is compared with 35% for owner-occupiers and 54% for council tenants. If we introduce energy efficiency measures to bring a home up to EPC band C, we could take households completely out of fuel poverty.

Citizens Advice has reported the widespread problems of damp, mould and cold, driven by the really poor energy efficiency of some privately rented homes. Some 31% of renters said they were unable to heat their home to a comfortable temperature. That rises to 45% of people with disabilities. That is awful. By its analysis, upgrading all homes could prevent 670,000 children developing asthma and 6,000 winter deaths per year. This must be something we all want.

In the other place, the Housing Secretary said that improvements needed to be balanced against the costs to individual landlords and tenants. There will be costs, but there are solutions for providing support and incentives to make the investment for landlords much more attractive. As business has said, the sooner the Government commit to a proper plan in the PRS and for all housing, the sooner the costs will come down and we will be closer to decarbonising our housing sector.