Generation Rent wants any tenant in a property where its landlord has received a grant to loan for EPC improvement, to have special dispensation against eviction.
In one of a series of demands on the government, the activist group says: “Where landlords receive a government grant or loan to fund retrofit work, renters should
be protected from ‘landlord need’ evictions for two years after the work is complete.
“This will prevent landlords from instantly cashing in on a home’s increased value post retrofit, making sure the policy works to reduce fuel poverty.”
This is just one of a string of demands made by the group in its new report, called Raising Standards, Not Rents.
This is the document which also demands tenants get a rent repayment from landlords who fail to meet Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards after 2030.
The other demands put forward by the activists include:
Raise awareness among renters of the new minimum energy efficiency standards – Generation Rent says: “Renters’ understanding of the new energy efficiency standards and pushing landlords to act to meet them will be very important.
“Therefore, the government should run a rights awareness campaign targeted at private renters so they understand the new system of Energy Performance Certificates, new minimum energy efficiency standards and how to enforce their new rights.
“This should cover awareness of circumstances where a tenant would benefit from challenging a rent increase due to the potential discount that the Tribunal would apply if the home is lower quality. It will be important that new EPCs provide tenants with enough information about potential energy bills that it is easy to compare properties and their full costs – this could in turn help drive landlord improvements.”
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Prevent landlords from pressuring renters into applying for exemptions – Generation Rent says: “Tenant exemptions will be necessary in a small minority of cases, but there is a risk that landlords could pressure tenants into applying for exemptions.
“Therefore, to ensure processes are fair and transparent, the government should publish comprehensive guidance for both tenants and landlords, explaining their respective rights, obligations and responsibilities, and available recourse if issues arise.”
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Provide long-term, ringfenced funding for local authority enforcement of new energy efficiency standards – “Local authorities do not have the resources to proactively enforce the new minimum energy efficiency standards.
“The government must provide a long-term funding package, that is ringfenced, to make sure councils can effectively enforce the new regulations.”
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Limit rent increases to the lower of Consumer Price Inflation or wage growth – “Limiting rent increases on a national scale will mean renters across England and Wales would be able to enjoy their warmer home and lower bills, without a sudden rent increase cancelling out their bill saving or forcing them out of the home.
“This is Generation Rent’s preferred method of regulating rents, and would apply to properties regardless of their energy efficiency status, and how improvements
have been paid for.”
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Classify means-tested grants and loans as value added by the tenant, not the landlord, at the First-Tier Tribunal process – “There is a direct correlation between the energy efficiency rating of a home and tribunal determinations on a ‘market rent’.
“Therefore, the tribunal decision process should be amended so that, where retrofit work is funded via a government grant or loan, that value is seen as added by the
tenant, not the landlord.
“This would prevent government-funded retrofit work enriching landlords through higher rents, helping to lift people on lower incomes out of fuel poverty.”
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Bring in a new targeted social energy tariff. after a government grant or loan is used to fund retrofit work – “Renters are extremely vulnerable to surging oil and gas prices, with more support needed for renters who don’t claim benefits but are on lower incomes.
“Introducing a new targeted social tariff towards people earning below a certain income would complement energy efficiency improvements, increasing the
number of renters lifted out of fuel poverty.”
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You can read the full Generation Rent report here: https://www.generationrent.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/GR_Raising-standards_Report.pdf
