Ms Issy Petrie:

In the private rented sector, this is an issue which comes up a great deal when the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, SVP, members are visiting people concerning standards in their private rented sector accommodation with regard to energy efficiency and the impacts that this has on tenants. In Housing for All we have seen an announcement that minimum building energy rating, BER, standards would begin to be introduced in the sector. We have not seen enough progress since that announcement or commitment in Housing for All.

A couple of years ago SVP and Threshold worked together on a paper about the next steps which can be taken for the sector to increase energy efficiency for tenants. Many recommendations came out from that but a key one was the need to get this balance right between making necessary improvements in the sector so that there is not this inequality gap opening up between tenures. This is also to ensure that this balance is struck so that we do not have those adverse consequences. The tenure on evictions has been used after a renovation where tenants are being evicted from their property. That balance needs to be struck. It is a very sensitive issue but progress needs to be made if we are to avoid those inequalities opening up. That is why we have come to the recommendation that there should be an extension of free energy upgrades to tenants in receipt of housing assistance payments for low income tenants in the sector. That should be subject to the house staying in the private rented sector for a long period of time and, in particular, that there is a long-term or indefinite lease for that tenant to ensure that those adverse consequences are avoided.

A key recommendation we came to in that report is that there needs to be a clear pathway into these developments for the sector, and a clear communication to landlords, to the sector in general, including to tenants, and a source of support. For example, those one-stop shops should be private-rent ready and prepared for the particular challenges which could arise in the private rented sector.