Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including council and housing association tenants are not included in the EPC rating system requirements; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that social housing tenants have (a) adequate heating systems, (b) affordable heating bills and (c) the same rights as private renters.

Every tenant deserves to live in a decent, warm and comfortable home.

The recently closed consultation on the future of Energy Performance Certificates, which can be found on gov.uk here, provides an opportunity to ensure the standard in the social rented sector incentivise the appropriate measures for each home.

The government also recently consulted on proposals to set a Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) for socially rented homes.

Socially rented homes are not currently required to meet a minimum EPC standard and current requirements are roughly equivalent to an EPC ‘F’ rating.

The consultation, which can be found on gov.uk here, proposes setting the standard at EPC C or equivalent by 2030. This mirrors proposals to raise standards in the private rented sector, set out within a recently closed consultation on improving the energy performance of privately rented homes which can be found on gov.uk here.

This MEES will be included in the modernised Decent Homes Standard (DHS), which the government recently consulted on, as part of a Criterion D on thermal comfort. The consultation on a reformed DHS for social and privately rented homes can be found on gov.uk here.

Both consultations closed on 12 September, and we have committed to publishing the final standards before the end of the year.