Tenants Losing Out As Landlords Fail to Make Homes Energy Efficient

According to new figures, thousands of Scottish tenants are losing out as a result of landlords who refuse to make their homes more energy efficient.

This means that many people are paying higher energy bills that they should do, simply because landlords have not taken up the offer of interest-free loans from the government.

These interest-free loans have been designed to help homeowners make houses more energy efficient, but installing measures such as double glazing and insulation.

However, when it comes to landlords in Scotland, only five have so far opted for these loans to help improve their rental properties within the last year. In the Central Scotland area, only one landlord has applied for the loan.

The grants have been made available to landlords through the Scottish Government’s Energy Saving Scotland scheme. However, campaigners claim that the popularity of these loans has been ‘pathetically low’.

As a result, it is thought that energy bills will be higher for tenants living in rented properties – where measures such as double glazing windows could have helped to dramatically reduce fuel bills as well as helping the environment.

Spokesman of the Association for the Conservation of Energy, Chas Booth, said that the news ‘underlines the need for regulation to tackle high fuel bills and greenhouse gas emissions from this sector’.

Statistics show that 600,000 homes in Scotland are struggling with the bills and are in fuel poverty – a figure that has risen since last year.