Welsh Housing Survey: Key asks shared with Government

NRLA proposals have formed the backbone of a list of key asks of the new Welsh Housing Survey – with tackling fuel poverty at the top of the list. 

We have been calling for a specific housing survey addressing the unique circumstances and challenges facing the Welsh private rented sector (PRS) for a number of years, with the Senedd confirming it would go ahead with plans in May this year. 

In a presentation to the Senedd’s Cross-Party Group on Private Rented Housing and Leasehold we stressed the need for the survey to be tailored to Wales, rather than simply mirroring the English Housing Survey due to the nature of the housing stock. 

This followed a well-attended meeting of the Group on the 18th November, led by the group’s chair Mike Hedges MS.  We spoke at this meeting, alongside representatives from tenant groups and independent housing experts. 

As the secretary for the group, which seeks to promote the importance of the PRS in Wales and raise issues facing landlords like you, we  gave a presentation on what we feel needs to be included for the Welsh Housing Survey to be beneficial to the sector.  

Unique nature

The essential requirement is that the survey reflects the unique situation of Wales’ housing stock, and does not simply seek to reflect or copy the English Housing Survey. Especially given that Westminster is proposing that private rented properties should have an EPC rating of at least C. 

Housing in Wales differs significantly from that in England, with 43% of Welsh private rented homes being built before 1919 compared to 31% in England. This is particularly importance in the context of plans to introduce a minimum EPC of C for rented homes. 

This matters because, generally, it is significantly harder to improve the energy efficiency of buildings built pre-1919 which tend to be  built with solid walls, meaning they are harder to improve.   

House prices tend to be lower as well, so the cost of retrofit works in Wales is more likely to be challenging without grant funding.

We argued that putting  fuel poverty at the heart of the Welsh Government’s  research – will ensure that policy is developed based on the real-world performance of homes and the practical constraints that Welsh landlords face when it comes to increasing  energy performance. 

The group’s chair Mike Hedges MS has now written to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government regarding our concerns.

Keep and eye on our news and social media channels to keep up to speed on this and other Welsh news stories and to to read more about how the British Government’s Minimum Energy Efficiciency Standards (MEES) proposals will affect Welsh landlords, click here.