The government’s new Warm Homes Plan puts the emphasis on landlords to improve energy quality for their tenants.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband says giving new protections for renters is one of three key planks of his Warm Homes Plan.
Specifically the plan says: “By updating protections for renters, and supporting landlords to make these upgrades in a fair way over several years, an estimated half a million families will be lifted out of fuel poverty by the end of the decade.”
There will be “new rules to ensure landlords invest in upgrades to cut bills for renters.”
The relatively few details released so far do not make clear whether tenants will be empowered to initiate improvements on rental properties.
But the plan gives a broad indication of what it expects from landlords.
These include potential improvements such as solar panels (Photovoltaic and thermal), heat pumps (ground source, air source (including air to air)), home and heat batteries, smart controls, insulation (wall, floor, and roof) and draught proofing.
There will be a £7,500 universal grant for heat pumps, and the first ever offer for “air-to-air heat pumps” that can also cool homes in the summer.
And the statement adds: “The government believes in a simple principle that if you rent a home, private or social, a landlord has a responsibility to ensure that it is safe, warm, and affordable.”
However it admits there is no information on who will be able to access other grants or interest-free loans, nor how such a process will work.
Instead it states: “We will set out more detail later this year on how consumers will be able to access low-interest loans, following further engagement with the finance sector and consumer groups.”
In the meantime Miliband says his Warm Homes Plan will deliver £15 billion of public investment, rollout upgrades to up to five million homes that could save hundreds on energy bills, and help to lift up to a million families out of fuel poverty by 2030.
He says homeowners of all kinds will be able to apply for government-backed, low and zero interest loans to install solar panels – unleashing a “rooftop revolution”.
These loans will also be available for batteries and heat pumps.
Low-income households and those in fuel poverty could receive support to cover the full cost of having solar panels put on their rooftop, or insulation installed.
The drive to roll out upgrades will be left to local mayors and other councils.
Miliband promises 180,000 “additional high-quality, well-paid, future-proofed jobs in energy efficiency and clean heating by 2030.”
