A Government minister has admitted that tenants could pay the bill for net zero upgrades to rental properties.
Independent analysis has found that tenants could be £4,000 worse off (Image: Getty)
Tenants could be forced to foot the bill for home improvements mandated under Ed Miliband’s net zero rules, a minister has conceded. Under the proposals, all rental properties will be required to meet a minimum energy performance certificate rating of C by 2030.
Previously, Mr Miliband, the energy secretary, insisted that landlords would not in turn pass on the cost for reaching these targets to tenants, but a Government minister has admitted that this might not be the case. Responding to a question in Parliament by Kevin Hollinrake, the Shadow Housing Secretary on whether rents could legally be increased because of net zero upgrades, Sarah Sackman, a justice minister, said that they could in “certain circumstances.” She said: “Expenditure on the upgrading of an energy performance certificate to a higher level of energy efficiency is a material consideration, which may result, in certain circumstances, in a higher market rent being determined.”
Shadow housing minister Kevin Hollinrake has accused Miliband of “picking people’s pockets” (Image: Getty)
Labour believes that tenants will save £240 a year on their energy bills as a result of the proposed changes.
Mr Miliband has previously claimed that past upgrades have not led to rent increases, whilst pointing to Government assistance that is available to help with heat pumps and insulation costs.
Asked about the issue on LBC in February, he said: “There is some Government help, we’re looking at what more can be provided.
“There are some local grants, there’s the boiler upgrade scheme. When this was done before with a less exacting standard, we didn’t see rent increases and half of landlords already do this.”
The admission has added fuel to the calls for the proposals to be scrapped, with Mr Hollinrake claiming that the plans are “picking people’s pockets.”
He told the Telegraph: “Red Ed promised to reduce everyone’s bills but his mad dash to net zero is picking people’s pockets.
“Not content with sending bills skyrocketing, hardworking families’ rents are now in his crosshairs. Maybe this confession will make him finally realise that Labour’s war on landlords just leaves renters worse off.
Analysis has suggested that rents could increase by £4,000 as a result of the changes (Image: Getty)
“He needs to heed our calls to abandon net zero by 2050 and fast, or working families and Middle England will continue to be clobbered by his eco cult.”
Independent analysis has found that the proposals could raise rental prices for tenants by as much as £4,000 a year.
Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said: “We all want to see rented homes as energy efficient as possible, but that will require a realistic plan to achieve this.
“The chronic shortage of tradespeople to carry out energy efficiency works needs to be addressed, alongside a targeted financial package to support investments in the work required as called for by the Committee on Fuel Poverty and Citizens Advice.
“Importantly a realistic timetable is needed if the 2.5 million private rented homes, which will not currently meet the Government’s proposed standards, are to be improved.”
A Department of Energy Security and Net Zero spokesman has said: “Everyone deserves to live in a warm, comfortable home.
“We have recently consulted on plans to require private landlords to meet higher energy performance standards, which will help deliver cheaper-to-heat homes.
“These plans could lift up to half a million households out of fuel poverty by 2030, while also making renters hundreds of pounds better off.”
