Energy bill rebates and the private rented sector: NRLA puts forward landlords' case

Following coverage of claims from Shelter that landlords are not passing on the £400 energy bills rebate to tenants, the NRLA has responded on behalf of its members to challenge this misleading narrative.

Our message to the Government is clear: they must ensure landlords who foot the cost of tenants’ bill receive the discount provided by this sum of money. 

Challenging the rising belief in some quarters that all landlords are deliberately withholding payments aimed at alleviating the effect of energy bill price rises, our CEO Ben Beadle said: 

“Payments from the Government’s Energy Bill Support Scheme are not due to begin until October. Given this, it is irresponsible scaremongering on the part of some to be making baseless suggestions that landlords will not do the right thing by their tenants. 

Ben went on to say that: “One off pots of money like this cannot disguise the need for fundamental reform of the benefits system to support vulnerable tenants and landlords alike. This needs to include unfreezing housing benefit rates and giving tenants the choice, if they so wish, to have housing cost support paid directly to their landlord.”  

Further to issuing our commentary to key stakeholder groups, our rebuttal to the narrative Shelter is trying to build received widespread coverage across national, trade and local media. In total, our push to counter Shelter’s narrative resulted in over 300 pieces of coverage in the UK media over the past three days. 

Coverage highlights include pieces in the Evening Standard, The Sun, The I, The Guardian, The Huffington Post and Wales Online. Moreover, our spokespeople (NRLA Representative Richard Blanco and our Policy Director Chris Norris) were able to get our message across on BBC Breakfast, BBC London and BBC South East.

The statement we issued to media was also covered by a wide range of radio outlets, including BBC Derby, LBC, BBC Shropshire, BBC Solent and BBC Oxford. In each case our response was featured on the stations’ news bulletins, ensuring our stance on this story was heard by a substantial listenership across the UK’s regions.

If you’d like to hear more about what the NRLA is doing to fights its members’ corner at a time of economic upheaval, please do get in touch with our Communications Team at [email protected] 

Equally, if you are a landlord affected by the impact of energy price rises on the private rented sector we’d love to hear from you. Do get in touch with us at the above address if you’d like to become one of our member stories.