MORE than 4,000 homes could be rendered unlivable if they are not brought up to standard before new efficiency ratings come into force, warns a council report.

By 2018, all privately rented homes in the UK must have an EPC energy efficiency rating of E or above.

In Bradford, 4,192 privately rented homes are currently rated below E - representing 11 per cent of the district’s private rental stock.

Councillor Brendan Stubbs (Lib Dem, Eccleshill) fears that unless Bradford Council take action, thousands of people could be left homeless or living in illegal conditions.

“It is clear that these changes will have a major impact on the standard of housing in Bradford.

“With the already high demand on housing in the district we cannot allow 4,000 homes to simply disappear from the rental market because they don’t meet the new standards,” he said.

“The new legislation is the right course of action because some tenants in the least efficient homes are having to pay more to keep their families warm.

“Some are in fuel poverty and will be forced to spend the winter choosing whether to heat or eat.

“The legislation was approved by Parliament in 2014 so landlords have already had two years to get their properties up to scratch, and have until April 1, 2018.

“Many areas which have poor energy efficiency are areas where fuel poverty is high.

“It is relatively cheap for landlords to improve energy efficiency, proper wall and loft insulation and replacing old central heating will be enough in most cases.”

Cllr Stubbs has suggested the local authority forms a register of all private landlords to help keep track of work being done.

“The Council has a duty to make sure that everyone in Bradford is living in a decent home,” he added.

“I want to make it clear that this register wouldn’t be just used to criticise landlords; by having a clear list it would mean when funds or schemes come up that can benefit or reward our landlords we have an easy way to communicate with them so they don’t miss out.”

The deputy leader of Bradford Council Val Slater said it was a further report was being put together about the issue.

“We are working with private landlords and have recently carried out workshops so that they understand what the changes mean for them and their tenants.,” Councillor Slater added.

“We have also been in discussion with the National Landlords Association and a number local private landlords about how we could encourage them to improve the energy efficiency of their properties.

“The Council is part of the Better Homes Yorkshire programme, which offers energy efficiency measures to all private sector homes.

“The idea of having a register has been raised on many occasions and legally we are not able to introduce a blanket register of landlords.

“We already implement the statutory licensing scheme for high risk houses in multiple occupation and we are working to address poor housing conditions in the sector through the enforcement of housing standards including taking action to address the hazard of excess cold. These, along with schemes such as Better homes Yorkshire are a more appropriate approach to tackling energy efficiency in the rented sector.”

Chris Norris, the head of policy at the National Landlords Association, said many landlords had already made properties more energy efficient.

He added: “The NLA encourages landlords to improve the energy efficiency of their properties if they haven’t already done so because a warm tenant is a happy tenant, but as housing stock ages this can become increasingly difficult.

“It is likely that landlords will already have considered or actioned the most cost effective measures, leaving only much costlier energy efficiency improvements such as solar panel installation or solid wall insulation available.

“However, with the deadline looming nearer some landlords may face substantial upfront costs if they hope to continue to provide rental homes.

“Following the virtual collapse of government backed schemes such as the Green Deal, the focus must be on finding a way to fund these changes without bankrupting tens of thousands of landlords in the process.”

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