Press release

Cold rented homes cost NHS £145m a year - new research

7 April 2011

Caring for people made ill by living in cold rented homes costs the NHS £145million a year, reveals new research launched by Friends of the Earth today, as the green campaigning charity calls for a new law to protect tenants.

The modelling, carried out by public health experts the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health, found that 655,800 homes in England rented from a landlord or letting agency are so cold they are officially a health hazard, with a bottom-of-the-scale energy efficiency rating of F or G.

It comes as Friends of the Earth and more than 35 organisations, including Crisis, Citizens Advice and Age UK, call for legislation in the Government's new Energy Bill making it an offence for landlords to re-let the coldest properties until they're improved to a basic standard of energy efficiency.

Friends of the Earth's Warm Homes Campaigner Dave Timms said:

"It's shocking that people still have to put up with cold rented homes that make them sick and cost a fortune to heat - while the NHS spends millions every year that decent insulation could help avoid. 

"To stop vulnerable tenants' health being a landlord lottery we need a new law to ensure the coldest properties are made warmer and cheaper to heat.  

"The Government's new Energy Bill should make it illegal, from 2016, to re-let the worst rented properties until they're improved to a minimum standard of energy efficiency."

The Chartered Institute for Environmental Health's Head of Policy David Kidney said:

"The £145million that the coldest rented homes cost the NHS each year is just the tip of the iceberg.

"Our research shows homes rented from a landlord or letting agency are more likely to be poorly insulated and cold - we need Government action to make sure all rented properties meet a decent standard of energy efficiency."

"The new Energy Bill should give local authorities powers to step in to ensure landlords improve the worst homes - and tenants who file environmental health complaints need legal protection from being evicted."

Useful statistics on rented homes:

• 20 per cent of the 3.4 million households renting their home from a landlord or letting agency are in fuel poverty - meaning they can't afford to heat their homes to a reasonable standard.  In the worst insulated properties 42 per cent of tenants suffer from fuel poverty.
• Consumer Focus research shows more than 150,000 tenants could escape fuel poverty if a minimum energy-efficiency standard for the worst insulated rented homes was enforced.
• Tenants living in the UK's coldest, health-hazard homes could save £488 a year on fuel bills if they were improved to a basic standard of heating and insulation, according to Energy Saving Trust research.

More than a quarter [27 per cent] of the UK's carbon emissions come from our homes - stopping them leaking heat is one of the cheapest and quickest ways to fight dangerous climate change.

In its joint statement, the coalition of organisations calling for the new law says:

"Without greater Government action, poorly insulated and inefficiently heated private rented homes will continue to cost the UK dearly in terms of carbon emissions, poor health, fuel poverty and high energy bills."

And 171 MPs have signed a parliamentary petition [EDM 653] backing a new law to improve cold rented homes to a minimum standard of energy efficiency.

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. The full report is available here. The costs to the NHS in England of dealing with cold-related illnesses include treating the increase in cardiovascular conditions (e.g. heart attacks and stroke) and respiratory diseases (e.g. influenza, pneumonia and bronchitis) that occur in the cold winter months.
2. The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) is a registered charity and the professional body that sets standards and training for environmental health practitioners, campaigns for improvements in environmental and public health policy and advises local and national government and the private sector. The CIEH commissioned the detailed modelling for this report from the Building Research Establishment: www.bre.co.uk/ninety.
3. The organisations calling for the new law are: All Party Parliamentary Fuel Poverty & Energy Efficiency Group, Age UK, Association for the Conservation of Energy, Blackpool Residents Federation, Brent Private Tenants' Rights Group, Brent Council, Bristol Council, Camden Council, Camden Federation of Private Tenants, Centre for Sustainable Energy, Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, Citizens Advice, Consumer Focus, Crisis, Disability Alliance, End Fuel Poverty Coalition, Federation of Private Residents Associations, Friends of the Earth. Housing Law Practitioners Association, Islington Council, Macmillan Cancer Support, Manchester City Council, National Childbirth Trust, National Energy Action, National Home Improvement Council, National Pensioners Convention, North West Tenants & Residents Assembly, People & Planet, St Helens Community Empowerment Network, Scarborough Private Tenants Rights Group, Stop Climate Chaos, Town and Country Planning Association, UK Business Council for Sustainable Energy, UK Public Health Association, UNISON, WWF - UK, 38 Degrees

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust