A piecemeal approach to how the private rental sector meets government climate change targets is fraught with problems, the landlords trade body says.

The government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy published this week says grants of £5,000 will be made available to households – including landlords – to replace gas boilers with systems such as heat pumps.

Following discussions with the National Residential Landlords Association the government has confirmed that landlords will be able to apply for these grants from April next year.

However, despite the publication of the long-awaited strategy, the NRLA says the government has again failed to provide the clarity needed by private landlords to plan for the future of their businesses – pledging to publish further information before the end of the year. 

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, says: “Eighty per cent of private rented households have gas central heating and replacing such systems will be both costly and vital to achieving net zero.

“Providing grants to assist householders and landlords to install heat pumps is a welcome step, but much more is needed to make the government’s targets achievable.

“Once again private landlords have been left waiting for the government to publish details of the standards they will be required to comply with, the deadlines they must meet, and how such work should be funded.”

The government has declared that new gas boilers will no longer be sold after 2035.

Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng says the grants to support the adoption of heat pumps, available from next spring, would help reduce the cost of the relatively new technology by 2030.

Currently an air source heat pump costs £6,000 to £18,000, depending on size and energy generation.