MIKE HEDGES AM ASKS MINISTER WHAT WELSH GOVERNMENT IS DOING TO IMPROVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN HOUSING

MIKE HEDGES AM ASKS MINISTER WHAT WELSH GOVERNMENT IS DOING TO IMPROVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN HOUSING

Speaking after Questions to Housing Minister, Julie James, Swansea East AM Mike Hedges AM said…. ‘I have many people in my constituency living in very poor housing conditions and energy efficiency is one area where a lot of work still needs to be done. Many of the properties in my constituency are old terrace type properties which have not had energy efficiency work done on them. I was interested to know what the Welsh government is doing to do to encourage landlords to improve the energy efficiency of their properties and improve the lives of tenants. I am pleased that the Welsh Government is going to take action but I would urge that these measures are implemented through a tight time frame so as to improve the lives of my constituents as quickly as possible.’

Mike Hedges AM – We have too many poor-quality houses in Wales, many with very poor energy efficiency, meaning those who are poorest end up either cold or paying more for heating their homes than you and I do. What is the Welsh Government doing to improve energy efficiency, especially in the private rented sector and the very low-cost part of the private rented sector?88

Julie James AM 14:22:32

Copy To Clipboard Share To Facebook Share To Twitter Share To LinkedIn
Video
So, at the moment, we’ve concentrated on the Welsh housing quality standard for publicly provided housing. Mike Hedges knows very well that the Welsh housing quality standard asks social landlords to get to a standard assessment procedure rating of 65 or higher, or an energy performance certificate D rating equivalent. About 97 per cent of our stock so far is up at that standard and we’ve got a small amount more to do before we meet the entire Welsh housing quality standard. What we’ve been trying to do in the private rented sector is change the relationship between landlords and tenants and ensure that tenants have a better deal all round in terms of the way that properties are let, the sorts of property that are available and the regulation through Rent Smart Wales. We haven’t at this point in time got any particular energy efficiency indications there, but as I just said in answer to Helen Mary Jones, we are expecting the decarbonisation working group report imminently, and they were asked to look across the piece in Wales, and I am expecting a set of recommendations around what we should do across every tenure in Wales to improve energy efficiency and indeed insulation and standards to go with it.