Tenants in the private rental sector in some parts of the UK choose to live in cold homes over fear of high electricity bills and being kicked out of their homes, a new research revealed.
The study was conducted by Sheffield Hallam University’s Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR) and focused on the private rental sector across two area in the UK: Hackney in London and Rotherham.
UK landlord advice: The tenancy agreement for rental properties
The study found that tenants find themselves in an impossible situation to seek help with cold homes that are unaffordable to heat. In both locations, respondents were living in dangerously cold homes and rationed their heating due to energy inefficient properties as well as fears over high heating bills.
Considering the high demand of rental property, only very few tenants think about how easy the home would be to heat when it came to finding somewhere to live.
The relationship between tenants and landlord was one that was described as one full of fear on the tenant’s side. This fear came from the possibility that any complaint could be encountered by actions like rent increases or even eviction.
As a result, most tenants were reluctant to make contact with the landlord and would rather find a way to work around the problem.
Some of these included wearing coats inside the home to keep warm, keeping blankets in living areas or even spending extra time in bed or outside the home.
Other issues such as excess cold, condensation and extensive damp and mould were widely highlighted, which for some respondents even led to an increase when suffering from chronic health conditions such as respiratory diseases and arthritis.
“There is a key voice missing from the debate about energy performance in the private rented sector, that of the tenant. Tenants are under researched and underrepresented, lacking a collective voice due to the absence of organised groups representing them,” said Dr Aimee Ambrose, senior research fellow at CRESR.
“The picture emerging from the accounts of respondents is one characterised by limited housing choice that leads to the acceptance of poor quality properties that would otherwise be unacceptable, to fear of challenging the landlord in case of retaliatory action, to enduring cold conditions and high bills, and to suffering the consequences for health and wellbeing.”
This research is seen as a decisive step towards a stronger voice for tenants when it comes to the debate of energy efficiency in the private rental sector.
