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One in 20 lettings properties would fail new energy standard – claim
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Original Source: Letting Agent Today.
Original Author: Graham Norwood.
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One in 20 lettings properties breach minimum standards set to come into force next April, according to a survey for an insurance firm.
The study, involving 1,000 tenants and conducted for AXA, found that five per cent of lettings properties pose an ‘excess cold hazard’ to residents as they fall into the worst-rated EPC bands F and G.
AXA claims this suggests that more than 200,000 homes are now at risk of being banned from the private rental market next April when Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards come into force.
Just how much these failing homes are costing tenants was revealed by analysis of their monthly bills in the survey. The average monthly bill in a Band A rental is £61 per month, increasing to £76 in Band E, and then £112 in Bands F to G.
However, the study suggests the number of failing properties is declining fast: the study found that the number of F and G banded rentals has halved since 2015, when official estimates put them at one in 10.
More than half of tenants surveyed by AXA said their current rentals are in bands A to C.
