The government could abandon the policy that landlords have to upgrade the Energy Performance Certificate of homes to at least C by 2028.
The plan has been in the public domain for years, but the BBC reports that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will announce that there will be no new energy efficiency regulations on homes in the coming days.
This is despite the government launching a grant scheme for landlords to upgrade properties.
The plan to phase out off-grid gas boilers could also be extended from 2026 to 2035, while there will only be an 80% phase out target.
The announcementcomes after the PM claimed that “Britain is leading the world on climate change”.
Dan Wilson Craw, deputy chief executive of campaign group Generation Rent, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to say the announcement will leave millions of renters in inefficient homes with bills they can’t afford.
He wrote: “This would be a terrible move – 1 in 4 private renters are in fuel poverty and will tend to qualify for grants to fund insulation.
“Weak rules mean many more years of unaffordable bills Politically dodgy too – the most draughty private rented homes tend to be in northern towns.”
Outside of housing, the government could push the ban on purchasing petrol and diesel cars to 2035, back from the 2030 date it’s committed to since 2020.
Meanwhile there will be no new taxes to discourage flying, no measures to encourage carpooling, and no recycling measures with separate bins for different kinds of recycling.
