A friend of mine was saying that their heating bills were very high and that the flat they rent feels cold all the time (they’ve been renting it for over a year). It’s a top floor flat with nobody living in the room below. I went into the loft yesterday and found that there was no insulation at all. I contacted the Letting Agency and they will contact the Landlord to get this rectified asap. Is there any responsibilty on the part of the Landlord or Letting Agency to make sure that the property they’re leasing has insulation? Could my friend ask for any form of compensation? Many thanks as always T

I doubt it on both counts.

Not at present. Possibly from 2015! Not that that’s a lot of help for your friend…

What do they want compensating for?

Ask for insulation but don’t expect it.

I would insulate it then send the bill to the landlord or even deduct it rom the rent.

cant they get it insulated for free on one of these schemes ?

I would contact the landlord and look at doing a deal. For the landlord he has an agreed rent, why should he/she pay out £100+ for no benefit? The landlord may be prepared to go 50/50 to get an improved property and the tenant saves on energy bills. I would agree to this (I am a landlord).

If the tenancy is recent, then the landlord would have had to get a cert of the insulation etc. That would have told both parties what the situation was with the environmental impact of the property. The tenant would have had the info even if they didn’t read it.

If you just sent me a bill for doing something without asking I be telling you where to go and kicking you out. Call the landlord and talk about if forget compensation they rented it as seen if they don’t like it move. Sorry to sound grumpy but if you want to have what you want buy a house

trail-rat – free only if on benefits or over 65 iirc

it cost me about £25 and a couple of hours to triple the loft insulation in my house.

Insulation is heavily subsidised at DIY stores. It took me two trips in a pickup truck to collect £50 worth. That was enough to do two houses double depth.

I wouldn’t even think about it, just do it.

I contacted up the energy saving people about loft insulation for a large 3 bed semi and they apologised that it wouldn’t be for free (not on benefits) and would be £100 fitted. Was more than happy with that and they took out all the old boarding which took a few hours. Couldn’t buy the insulation for that price.
If you are really bothered you could get some of the insulation that is sealed in a plastic outer so you can take it with you when you next move.

A tenant in one of our flats had central heating instaled for free on one of the government schemes.
It seemed a shame to put her rent up afterwards, but the going rate for a flat with CH is higher than one with storage heaters.

trail-rat – free only if on benefits or over 65 iirc

I had mine done for free last year and I’m not on benefits or over 65. Check with your energy company. We went through EDF and they sorted everything out for us. Got an extra 200mm of insulation in the loft. This may have changed recently though, as there was a cut off date, but I have no idea what it is / was.

I think the free insulation scheme from the govt. finished at the end of last year.

I think the free insulation scheme from the govt. finished at the end of last year.

Yep, end of December as I understand it.

Just looked at the Energy Saving Trust for Loft Insulation advice, including grants. Spotted this:

Help for landlords
Until April 2015, the Landlord’s Energy Saving Allowance lets you claim up to £1,500 against tax for energy-saving improvements you have made to each house or flat you rent out

Source: http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Insulation/Roof-and-loft-insulation

Oh, this might help too: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/free-cavity-loft-insulation

I would insulate it then send the bill to the landlord or even deduct it rom the rent.

I wouldn’t, without prior permission you;re on a loser.

I live in rented and my landlord had my 5 year old house’s loft insulation ‘boosted’ for free. All of the utility company’s are getting away with the huge hikes because they are giving millions back to the government in the insulation schemes on offer. As Jarvo has correctly pointed out above look on EST’s website for info.

A tenant in one of our flats had central heating instaled for free on one of the government schemes.
It seemed a shame to put her rent up afterwards, but the going rate for a flat with CH is higher than one with storage heaters.

IIRC it’s illegal to put the rent up for improvements the tennant’s made?

It might be worth looking at the EPC that (IIRC) should have been supplied with the flat at the point of rental?

IIRC it’s illegal to put the rent up for improvements the tennant’s made?

no, just give them notice if they object. They can either find the deposit, cover moving costs or just pay the rent increase.

Tenants have FA rights in the UK, only landlords seem to think differently, but then why should they give two months notice when they want their property back. Having bought it with a cheap mortgage, using equity etc etc and screwing any first time buyer in the process.

geoffj – seriously? Your tenant had improvements made to your property at no cost to yourself and you rewarded her by increasing the rent? 😯

Funding for loft and cavity wall insulation was called CERT. It started out pretty much for those over 65, disabled or on benefits. As more and more of those people had there’s done the utility companies started funding different groups of people until last year anyone could practically get it for free.

The CERT scheme finished last month and has been replaced by something called ECO and Green Deal. Unfortunately unless you are seen as being a vulnerable person you will not qualify for any loft or cavity wall insulation. The exception being…. if you live in an area that is in the lowest 15% of deprived areas in the country (then it needs to be part of a programme where others in the area are having the same work done). Or you might get loft insulation funded if you are having some solid wall insulation installed at the same time.

There’s a bit more fine detail to it than that, but it’s pretty much the gist of it.

I was joking FFS. I’m not that heartless. The factor did suggest it though 🙄