One of the most vulnerable groups of people in the UK today are private renters. We are the precariat and most of us are two months away from being made homeless . . . if we’re lucky.
If you want a definition of ‘the precariat’, I think that will do.
What can make a difficult situation even worse, is when the house that you’re living in needs work done to it and, at the moment, that often means improvements to the thermal efficiency of the building fabric. We can’t afford to throw money away on poor insulation and howling draughts.
So, what can renters do?
We need to draw a line between the things renters can do for ourselves and the kind of work that can only be done by the building owner.
Here’s a simple list of things that the renter can do to improve their heating situation:
It mainly comes down to reducing or stopping draughts – though, please, don’t forget that every building needs good ventilation. A sealed-up house breeds moulds and sickness. We have advice on the ‘Insulate Sherborne’ website about preventing condensation, damp and mould that is well worth the read.
How to Prevent Condensation, Damp and Mould
But when it comes to stopping draughts through doors, windows, chimneys, around pipes and even floors, there are things that the renter can do. The thing to remember is that, as a tenant, anything that you introduce into your home needs to be removeable and used in your next home, come the day. So, everything here is portable. Here’s our information sheet on reducing draughts.
But once you’ve done all that you can, what happens next? If the building is simply too cold, either because its insufficiently insulated or because the heating system does not work properly, what can you do?
According to the Energy Saving Trust the private rented sector has the largest proportion of the most energy-inefficient homes, with 6.3% being rated F and G on the SAP (Standard Assessment Process) energy performance certificate (EPC) scale (against 0.7% in the social rented sector). This is a problem for tenants who have no control over home improvements and are obliged to pay higher energy bills as a consequence.
Landlords are legally obliged to bring their properties up to an EPC Band E on the SAP ratings and legislation that’s currently going through Parliament may improve that to Band C. Ignorance is no defence here and almost every property that’s been offered for rent in the past 14 years or so needs to have an EPC denoting the SAP rating. It should be part of your tenancy agreement and a landlord cannot serve notice on you without having one in place either!
So, you may have a sound argument in law for your landlord to do something about the problem, allowing for certain exclusions around planning and conservation areas. But here’s the thing: according to Dorset Council, the first step for the tenant is to make their landlord aware of the issue and give them the opportunity to correct it.
This is simply because you have a contract in law with your landlord and, consequently, you are duty-bound to make the other party to that contract aware of any shortcomings. If you have a reasonable landlord, that may not be a real problem. But if you don’t have a reasonable landlord, or you don’t feel confident to make those representations, then visit Citizens Advice – they are based in The Manor House in Newland; the same building as Sherborne Town Council.
It’s important to remember that the law is on your side on this issue. It has to be said that the amount that a landlord is required to spend on improvements isn’t great if there’s a lot of energy efficiency work that needs to be done and the improved standard isn’t that high, but it moves you and your family’s right to a comfortable home in the right direction.
Let’s finish with a note for landlords:
Houses that aren’t heated sufficiently may force tenants to more extreme measures to stop cold effecting the property, or due to unaffordable heating bills. It’s the natural thing to do. It also means that some rooms won’t be heated at all.
And this is the ideal ground for ugly things like black mould and dry rot to form on top of damage to decoration like wall coverings. When water vapour meets cold, still air it causes condensation and that begins the process of destroying the building fabric.
It makes commercial sense to make sure that your properties are well insulated and ventilated so that its easier for the tenant to maintain a healthy temperature in the house with good air quality.
So, to summarise the landlord should act to make improvements to not only meet the increasing legislation around EPC ratings, fitness for human habitation and the Decent Homes Standard (which could be with us soon too) but also because it just makes sense – tenants stay longer, they can afford their rent more easily, they don’t take up your time with complaints, you don’t need to decorate the property so often and it’s worth more as an asset!
There is a useful Guide on the Government website: Domestic private rented property: minimum energy efficiency standard – landlord guidance.
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Healthy Homes Dorset is funded by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, Dorset Council and Public Health Dorset and is delivered by Ridgewater Energy. Ridgewater Energy provides expert advice and assistance to home owners, landlords and private tenants in assessing and sourcing funding and quotations for insulation, heating and renewable energy upgrades in the South of England.
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