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Ed Miliband’s home upgrade revolution is nothing more than a hopeful wish of a blissful, warm nirvana for private rented homes.
Government funding has already been cut from a promised £30,000 a household to £15,000 for the first property in a portfolio and £7,500 for the rest, leaving landlords to pick up the remainder of the tab.
Department of Energy Security and Net Zero secretary Miliband wants all rented homes to attain a grade C Energy Performance Certificate.
Energy firms have crunched the number already and reckon making Britain warm could cost between £21 and £38 billion. Landlords must spend roughly £3,653 to improve the energy rating of a one-bedroom flat from EPC D to C while energy-proofing a two-bed terrace house will likely cost up to £6,400.
Energy saving improvements for large detached homes are expected to cost around £12,540.
Miliband hopes to lift a million homes from energy poverty with his plan.
However, the target may fall short - even the government says: “The number of tenant households in fuel poverty set to benefit from higher minimum energy efficiency standards is a preliminary estimate using a model based on the assumptions from a 2020 consultation.
“We will shortly set out a consultation with proposals for improvements to Energy Performance Certificates to make them more accurate and reliable.”
The small print also suggests the grants are geographically limited and offered to low-income tenants. Landlords in Scotland and Wales get no money, along with landlords with better-off tenants in England.
“The Energy Secretary pledged to take action to reverse these failures of the past and stand with tenants, with a commitment to consult by the end of the year,” said an Energy Department spokesman.
“A million households are set to be lifted out of fuel poverty, as the government announces plans for the biggest potential boost to home energy standards in history.
“Families across the country continue to grapple with the consequences of high energy bills amid a cost-of-living crisis – with too many tenants exposed to a harsh, daily reality of cold, draughty homes and expensive bills.
“Government intervention is now well overdue to transform living standards and deliver the safety and security of warmer, cheaper homes free from damp and mould.”
Landlords in England and Wales must follow several EPC rules, including:
Homes that fail to meet the minimum EPC rating cannot be rented out.
The Tories had proposed raising the EPC requirement to a C grade for rented homes by 2025 but scrapped the policy as too expensive and unfair to landlords.