Bristol secures funding to improve living conditions

Families renting cold and damp properties in Bristol will benefit from new funding that has been awarded to the Council to improve the energy performance of homes.

Since April last year, privately rented homes are required to meet a minimum energy performance rating of EPC Band E, making it illegal to rent out homes below that standard unless landlords have a limited exemption.

Bristol Council has been awarded almost £100,000 to raise awareness of the standards and target properties that fall short, through educating landlords, providing referrals to relevant grants and loans, and if necessary, enforcement.

Cllr Tom Renhard, cabinet member for housing delivery and homes at Bristol City Council, said: ‘We welcome the additional funding from government to help us tackle enforcement in the private rented sector.

‘The additional funding will be used to ensure that improvements to the energy efficiency of private rented accommodation meets the current EPC ‘E’ requirement and private landlords are encouraged to improve their accommodation towards EPC level ‘C’ by 2030.

‘Bristol City Council has been actively reducing carbon emissions since 2004 when we adopted our first climate strategy. Since then, Bristol’s progress has continued, being the first Local Authority to declare a climate emergency. We have also spent £42m on retrofitting our own council housing stock since 2016. This additional funding will enable us to progress our ambition to be a carbon neutral and carbon resilient city by 2030.’

The funding comes from the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) which has awarded £4.3m to 59 councils across the country.

In related news, Manchester City Councils executive committee will be asked to approve a transformation masterplan for the regeneration of the Grey Mare Lane Estate in East Manchester at a meeting tomorrow.

The current estate was built 50 years ago, with many of the properties having poor sustainability standards due to their outdated design.

Photo by Larisa Mamonova