CTSI/CIEH Conference
Join us at the CTSI Annual Conference. CIEH members are invited to this exclusive face‑to‑face event for free.
Cold homes and energy efficiency
Cold homes have one of the most tangible and immediate impacts on people’s health and wellbeing
Keeping people warm at home
Cold homes have one of the most tangible and immediate impacts on people’s health and wellbeing: they exacerbate illness, contribute to NHS costs and are closely related excess winter deaths.
There are around 280,000 homes in England’s private rented sector and 810,000 owner-occupied homes in Bands F and G - that’s over a million homes with the lowest two energy efficiency bands.
The cost and affordability of heating a home to a safe and healthy temperature is also important. In 2017, the number of households in fuel poverty in England was estimated at 2.53 million, representing approximately 10% of all English households and this has increased to 3.1m in 2022. The rate of fuel poverty in NI is 42%.
What are we doing?
We published updated CIEH excess cold enforcement guidance in December 2019. This is aimed at helping practitioners enforce excess cold in the private rented sector.
Why is it so important?
Cold homes impact on both the mental and physical wellbeing - from respiratory disease to depression. With many people unable to afford to heat their energy inefficient homes. Cold homes and fuel poverty make up a significant proportion of the costs for the NHS and society as a result of poor quality housing.
Excess winter deaths were around 30,000 in 2019/20 in England and Wales excluding COVID-19. A third of these are estimated to be directly related to living in a cold home.
What do we want to see?
- The Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards for private rented sector properties need to be raised further, with a clear and effective trajectory being published to show how the standard will be brought up to Band C by 2030.
- Fuel poor homes must be prioritised with ambitious targets to upgrade these homes to Band C by 2028, as well as ensuring that hard-to-treat properties are not left behind.
- Introduction of targeted energy efficiency measures aimed at targeting ‘energy crisis hotspots’ in England and Wales, followed by a national universal insulation programme.
We’re campaigning for change
The Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards set a cap of £3,500 for landlords to bring their homes up to a Band E standard. Whilst this cost cap is a step in the right direction, this is estimated to leave around 50% of homes in lower two bands (F and G). We will be working to influence the future trajectory towards Band C to ensure no homes are left languishing in the lowest bands because these properties are difficult to treat.
Read our parliamentary briefing on energy efficiency, which sets out our key asks for action in this area.
We are members of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition. As part of this, we are campaigning for Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) to be given EPCs and minimum standards for energy efficiency like other rented properties. This should ensure that vulnerable groups living in this type of accommodation are also protected from the effects of cold homes.
