Sadiq Khan wants EPC measures for the PRS reinstated

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is calling for the legal power to impose a rent freeze in the capital AND reinstate the minimum EPC requirement for rented homes.

He says that London’s renters could be paying more for their energy bills for years to come after the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ditched the need for landlords to offer homes with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of at least C.

Now City Hall has analysed the English Housing Survey and found 494,000 private rental properties in London have an EPC rating of band D or below.

The analysis also used national data on energy consumption and current prices, revealing that London’s rented homes rated D or lower will cost £337 a year extra to heat, compared to homes rated C or above.

Situation for many renters in London is bleak

Mr Khan said: “The situation for many renters in London and across the country is increasingly bleak, with rents soaring and other costs increasing.

“A key thing ministers could have done is help renters with energy efficiency.

“Scrapping plans for tougher standards is frankly shameful, and will just lead to even higher bills.”

He added: “Actively deciding to condemn thousands of renters to draughty, inefficient, expensive homes is letting down renters, and this is on top of delays to banning so-called ‘no fault evictions’.

“Ministers should give cities like London the powers to freeze rents, but also urgently reinstate plans to ensure every renter lives in an energy efficient home.”

EPC U-turn is an unwelcome expense

Mr Khan also warns that the EPC U-turn is an unwelcome expense for many private tenants facing increasing rents in the cost-of-living crisis.

He says he is particularly concerned about the negative impacts that a hike in energy bills would have on low-income and vulnerable Londoners, including the elderly.

The mayor points to recent research from the Social Market Foundation found private renters in England and Wales are on track to waste £1.1bn (£220 per household) on energy that leaks out of their walls and windows.

Plans to raise minimum energy efficiency standards

Generation Rent’s chief executive, Ben Twomey, said: “The Prime Minister’s cancellation of plans to raise minimum energy efficiency standards means that landlords now have no obligation to agree to any insulation works, even if they are funded by government grants.

“This reckless political choice is leaving more tenants suffering in cold and draughty homes that are damaging our health and draining our wallets.

“Tenants in draughty homes currently pay hundreds of pounds more per year than they would if their home was insulated properly.

“Our research shows that three in 10 renters are discouraged from applying for grants because of the expectation that their landlord will refuse them.”

He adds: “With rents through the roof and private tenants facing this premium on our energy bills, we share the mayor of London’s call for the Government to stand by its old promises and deliver energy efficient homes for renters.”

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