More than 40% of private renters in England and Wales were forced to ration their gas and electricity use last winter to afford their energy bills, according to Citizens Advice.
A survey by the consumer charity found that 41% of renters, or the equivalent of 4.5 million people, had to eke out energy, while one-third, or 3.5 million, struggled to maintain a comfortable temperature during the winter months. Most of those cutting back were living in homes with low energy-efficiency ratings.
Citizens Advice said some tenants reported taking drastic measures such as skipping hot meals, wearing gloves inside, and limiting heating to just one room of their home.
The charity is calling on the government to deliver urgently on its promise of tougher rules for landlords, which would require them to upgrade their properties to a minimum energy performance certificate (EPC) C by 2030.
Clare Moriarty, the chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “Our advisers are bracing for more calls this winter from renters trapped in cold, leaky homes.”
She added: “By 2030, the government must ensure no renter lives in a home that is excessively difficult and expensive to heat. And renters must urgently be given the security they deserve so they can ask landlords to fix substandard housing without fear of retaliation.”
Any delay to the changes would unfairly trap renters in cold and unaffordable homes for longer, the charity said.
Renters are more likely to live in draughty and poorly insulated properties, with 57% scoring an energy-efficiency score of EPC D or lower, indicating below average energy efficiency.
People in homes with an EPC E rating spent an extra £317 on energy bills last winter, a cost they would have avoided if their homes had been upgraded to C, according to Citizens Advice. These potential savings rise to £440 for those in the leakiest homes.
Despite the significant energy savings possible through better insulation or other energy efficiency measures, many renters are afraid to request better conditions from their landlords, according to Citizens Advice.
It found that nearly one-third of renters have avoided asking for home upgrades because they fear “creating tension with their landlord”, or higher rent.
skip past newsletter promotion
Sign up to Business Today
Get set for the working day – we’ll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
after newsletter promotion
Of the 30% of those surveyed who have asked their landlords to improve their homes, 13% said their landlord called for higher rent, while 7% said their landlord refused.
Emily Wise, an energy adviser at the North East Lancashire branch of Citizens Advice, said: “Sadly, this is an all-too-familiar story. Many of the renters we help day-to-day say their landlords are hesitant to fix the substandard conditions they live in.”
The research, undertaken in February, included an online survey of more than 2,400 private renters in England and Wales as well as in-depth interviews and focus groups later in the year.
A government spokesperson said: “Everyone deserves to live in a warm, comfortable home. We have consulted widely on our plans to require private rented homes to achieve energy performance certificate C or equivalent by 2030. This could lift up to half-a-million homes out of fuel poverty, while making renters hundreds of pounds better off.”
The government has not yet responded to the consultation.
