Private Rental Homes: Energy & Safety Trends

According to new government data, housing quality and energy efficiency are slowly improving in privately rented homes.

The latest English Housing Survey statistics on housing quality and energy efficiency show that homes are safer and warmer, but many still fail the decent homes standard.

Buy-to-let homes also have the highest levels of damp and mould.

The study says: "The findings show improvements to both housing quality and energy efficiency in the long term. Compared to a decade ago, we see fewer non-decent and unsafe homes and more homes in the highest energy efficiency bands.

"Nonetheless, we still observe a persistent level of homes that fail the Decent Homes Standard or have poor energy efficiency ratings. More particularly, we have seen increases in levels of damp and mould."

What the report says about buy-to-let

The key findings of the survey are:

• Rented homes are more likely to be overcrowded than those belonging to owner-occupiers. In 2023-24, 1 percent of owner-occupiers (164,000 households) were overcrowded compared with 9 percent of social renters (358,000) and 6 percent of private renters (268,000). Social rented households are more likely to be overcrowded than privately rented.
• Category 1 hazards remained more prevalent in the private rented sector (10 percent) than in owner-occupied homes (8 percent) and the social rented sector (4 percent). However, since 2021, there has been a decrease in the prevalence of Category 1 hazards in the private rented sector from 14 percent.
• Damp has worsened across all tenures since 2019 and is more prevalent in the private rented sector (9 percent) than in the social rented sector (7 percent) and the owner-occupied sector (4 percent).
• Over the last 10 years, the proportion of homes in the highest energy efficiency bands (A to C) increased from 23 percent to 52 percent, while the proportion within the lowest bands (E to G) decreased (26 percent to 9 percent).
• The estimated average cost to improve dwellings to at least an energy efficiency band C was £7,320 across all tenures, with owner-occupied dwellings costing the most (£7,714) and social rented homes costing the least £5,429. The private rented sector averages £6,864.
• Private rented homes had the lowest proportion of central heating (86 percent).

In 2023-24, owner-occupiers (59 percent) and social renters (53 percent) were more likely to report having an electricity smart meter compared to private renters (47 percent).

What is the English Housing Survey?

The English Housing Survey is a national survey of people's housing circumstances and the condition and energy efficiency of housing in England.

What is a decent home?

For a dwelling to be considered 'decent' under the Decent Homes Standard, the property must:

• Meet the statutory minimum standard for housing (the Housing Health and Safety System (HHSRS))
• Be in a reasonable state of repair
• Have reasonably modern facilities and services
• Offer a reasonable degree of warmth