DCLG highlights renters' gas bill worries

02/10/2008

Many renters are having great financial difficulties with paying the bills, official figures have found.

According to the department of communities and local government (DCLG), 79 per cent of tenants worry about affording the cost of their heating and other utilities as winter approaches.

The study follows a summer of sharp price hikes from major providers - with British Gas even putting up its general gas tariff by 35 per cent.

For its part, the government's new £910 million energy scheme - launched last month - offers households discounts on installing home insulation in order to cut bills, rather than direct financial assistance in the form of a windfall tax on providers.

DCLG's survey also found that the average tenant is paying the equivalent of 20 per cent of rent on energy bills.

Commenting on the figures David Salusbury, chairman of the National Landlords Association, said: "Rising energy prices and leaner economic times mean tenants want to live in properties which are fuel efficient and don't waste money.

"Landlords who own properties without proper insulation or older, inefficient boilers could find tenants are looking for energy efficiency and ever-cheaper fuel bills."

Tags; Housing Debt and Bills, Recent Graduate Debt,

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