House with EPC rating E - how to keep the house warm without spending a fortune?

Peggy0628

Hi, I'm renting a house from private landlord, the house it old and badly insulated. EPC rating E (score 49). It's very expensive to heat (and the heat is gone pretty much within an hour of heating being switched off). This morning the indoor temp was 9 C but I've still not put the heating on yet (currently sitting here wearing my winter coat, hat and fingerless gloves while covered with 2 blankets).
The house is constantly cold and damp with mould on every exterior wall (some rooms are worse than others). Landlord isn't interested in doing any improvements because the house meets the minimum set by government (rented properties must have rating no worse than E). I'm not eligible for any grants (people on some benefits can get free insulation etc) but I don't get any benefits at all. Landlord says that if I won't insulation, I have to pay for it myself (is he really expecting me to spend £££ on improving a house I can get kicked out of at a few months notice?). My tenancy is on a rolling contract now (it was fixed term for 6 months originally).
I can't afford to pay more than £100/month on gas/electricity, at the moment I'm spending around £2.50 - 3.00 per day (60p of that is standing charges, I have a smart meter/monitor) but with the prices going up again in April I don't know how I'm going to manage... And next winter will be even worse! So, my question, is there anything I can do to keep warm without going over my budget? The house is so cold I can't even have visitors, because I don't want people to know what conditions I live in. The only source of heat is gas central heating (no room thermostat). I can't afford to move (no money for deposit etc) and even if I had money for that, the next property would probably be just as bad (beggars can't be choosers). Any suggestions are welcome! Thanks!
PS: Sorry for the long rant...

https://imgur.com/a/DaGKa4f

QrizB

Peggy0628 said:

... is there anything I can do to keep warm without going over my budget?

My first suggestion is "move to a different property".

Not only is your house expensive to heat but your landlord isn't great either.

Is there a good reason why you can't?

Verdigris

Moving house would be the best option.

Your landlord will have to bring the house up to a C, or better, rating after 2025, for a new letting contract. If they are intending to hang on to the property in the long term, you may be able to use that as leverage.

Peggy0628

There is several reasons:
1 - no money for deposit, moving costs etc
2 - no cheap rental properties available within 5 miles of my workplace (the cheapest one is £150/month more in rent that this one).
3 - have pets so need a pet-friendly landlord (that rules out a lot of properties straight away)

Verdigris

You seem to be between an rock and a hard place. If the house is a risk to health it might be worth getting in touch with the Environmetal Health department, at the local council. They may be able to persuade the landlord to improve the property.

Peggy0628

I did point out how cold and damp the house is to the landlord (or to be exact, the letting agent) but they told me the only reason the house is cold and damp is because I don't keep the heating on all day. When I told them I can't afford the have the heating on all day (because the house isn't insulated properly) they told me the house meets the minimum EPC rating set by the government and if I can't afford to pay the heating bill, it's not their problem.
I'm worried if I complain the anyone, the landlord will simply sent me a S21 notice and I'll have nowhere to go... With the current shortage of affordable housing they'll find a new tenant within a week, no matter how bad the house is. All the cheap-ish rental properties I've seen were all off the market within days of being listed so there is definitely a high demand.

ProDave

I keep on saying this.  LOOK at the EPC before buying or renting.  If you want cheap heating, choose one with an EPC B or an A if you can find one.

Some day, the market is going to wake up to the fact a property with such a poor EPC is worth less because it is going to cost a lot more to heat it.  I would not want to be owning a very poor EPC property when the market finally wakes up to this fact.

The April rise in energy prices just might make people wake up.

If you do find a better property and move, tell your landlord exactly why you are moving, that you don't want to live in a cold, damp expensive to heat property.

Mineral1

ProDave said:

I keep on saying this.  LOOK at the EPC before buying or renting.  If you want cheap heating, choose one with an EPC B or an A if you can find one.

Some day, the market is going to wake up to the fact a property with such a poor EPC is worth less because it is going to cost a lot more to heat it.  I would not want to be owning a very poor EPC property when the market finally wakes up to this fact.

The April rise in energy prices just might make people wake up.

If you do find a better property and move, tell your landlord exactly why you are moving, that you don't want to live in a cold, damp expensive to heat property.

Fine in principle but the housing stock is the housing stock, it is supply limited and therefore properties with a good EPC ratings command a higher price, and some proportion of the population will always be left with the remaining bad EPC rated buildings to occupy. As usual it's the people with the least capital who will be left with the rubbish property.

Sandtree

Peggy0628 said:

2 - no cheap rental properties available within 5 miles of my workplace (the cheapest one is £150/month more in rent that this one).

So it appears the landlord is at least recognising the condition in the rental charge and with the saving on rent it could be used to heat the property more.

It does seem to be that you need to consider if this is an area you can afford to live in, unfortunately working in London most have much longer than 5 mile commutes or end up in flat shares etc because rental/purchase costs are so high. 

Verdigris

When the letting regulations change, to only allow C, or better, EPC ratings to be let, the cowboys will leave the industry, hopefully. No comfort to the OP, of course.

QrizB

ProDave said:

Some day, the market is going to wake up to the fact a property with such a poor EPC is worth less because it is going to cost a lot more to heat it.  I would not want to be owning a very poor EPC property when the market finally wakes up to this fact.

Potentially, the OP's rent is £150/month less than the market rate for exactly that reason. But that doesn't help the OP.