Cold homes, energy efficiency and tenants rights in the private rented sector

That this House notes the highest energy price crisis in a generation whilst British homes are amongst the worst insulated in Europe; further notes 4.4 million private rented sector households in England have the coldest, leakiest, lowest quality homes, and worst levels of damp, condensation or mould of any other form of tenure; is concerned that renters who push for maintenance and energy efficiency improvements risk eviction; further notes the Government's 2020 proposals requiring new tenancies to reach Energy Efficiency C rating from 1 April 2025 and all tenancies by 1 April 2028 should be made binding without further delay; considers Ministers should properly fund local authorities to exercise their powers so homes that are too cold to be legal can be made fit for habitation; calls both for an immediate moratorium on evictions and a rent freeze for tenants at least until May 2023 with a funded debt support plan thereafter; further calls for Ministers to unfreeze Local Housing Allowance rates so that housing support keeps up with rents; notes the urgent need to end fixed term tenancies and no fault Section 21 evictions, and to control rents within and between tenancies, as well as for longer term measures to allow the managed reduction of rents that are unaffordable relative to local incomes, as part of a wholesale package of protections for renters; and urges the Government to immediately bring forward the promised Renters Reform Bill to provide a fair legal framework to protect tenants and keep them warm.