Energy Efficiency Standards

This Government are committed to tackling fuel poverty and delivering warmer, cheaper homes for tenants. We are currently consulting on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the private rented sector and continuing to support landlords to meet the new standards through consultation.

I understand the answer that the Minister just gave, but when individual private landlords with just one or two properties are coming to my surgeries to say they will simply sell up and remove those properties from the private rented sector because they cannot afford to bring properties up to EPC C, when the National Trust is leaving properties in the village of Bradenham completely empty because it cannot afford to bring those rural homes up to EPC C, and when the charity Abbeyfield has closed its Princes Risborough property because it could not afford to bring it up to EPC C, displacing elderly and vulnerable residents, does the Minister agree that if the Government are to bring in new regulations, it is equally incumbent on them to help provide funding?

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. Raising standards in the private rented sector could lift up to 550,000 people out of fuel poverty. There are a number of schemes to support landlords to improve their properties, and they can look at their eligibility through gov.uk. In particular, there are schemes such as the boiler upgrade scheme, which offers £7,500 off the cost of heat pumps. We look forward to working in partnership with the sector, because we recognise that it is an important sector.

Some 13% of households in England—over 3 million people—are officially in fuel poverty. Does the Minister agree that the last Conservative Government did not just fail to meet their housing targets, but left a legacy of high household bills?

I thank my hon. Friend for the question. We have inherited a massive challenge, and we are working at pace to tackle these issues, so that people can live safely and securely in their home and do not face such high costs.

I call the shadow Minister.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith) has highlighted, simply putting people out of their homes is not a solution to fuel poverty. Given that the figures very clearly show that the cost of the upgrades in many cases massively exceeds the financial benefit to either the tenant or the landlord, can the Minister give the House her personal assurance that this objective is realistic and achievable?

We recognise that it is important to get the balance right. The Renters’ Rights Bill will put in place new regulations to protect tenants, and as I have said, there are schemes to support landlords who need support. Investment in a property is an important part of ownership, and improvements can lead to increases in property value, and in the attractiveness of lets to tenants.