Q: MY GAS boiler is original to the house and must be some 30 years old now. My gas bill keeps rising each year and I am struggling to pay the bills. My Landlord says the gas boiler is fine as it very rarely breaks down and that everybody’s heating bills are higher because the cost of gas keeps rising. What can I do?

A: Your Landlord is not wrong in his general statement that heating bills have risen over time and this will result in higher gas bills. There is much press coverage today about the options people have with switching utility supplier as many as not necessarily on the correct tariff. Paying your bill by direct debit and even changing to a dual rate with your electric supplier can also result in a reduction of costs. However this is not the whole picture.

There has been talk over several years that the Government wanted to introduce a minimum energy performance rating of E for the private rental sector. Your performance rating is found on your EPC (Energy Performance Certificate). These were first introduced a decade ago in 2007 and today are required for all new rentals and house sales. They are similar to the traffic lights that you find on any fridge with A being more efficient and H being the least efficient. The proposal is that these changes will be introduced in April 2018. From this date it will be illegal to rent any property within the private sector which has either a F or G banding. This only applies to new tenancies or renewals.

If we look at your gas boiler, I would suspect that the boiler is only 65 per cent efficient. Typical of boilers this old. Also typical is that they tend to be what I call ‘good work horses’ which means that they tend to go on for donkey years. However 35 per cent of the gas which you are burning is going straight out of the flue as wasted energy. Today you will find that gas boilers, whether regular or combination are typically 92 per cent efficient condensing boilers. What you Landlord needs to do is to upgrade your boiler and this will have a dramatic effect on the cost of your gas bills. Though, you may say that’s fine but does not mean that my Landlord will do anything to assist. True as new gas boilers can be expensive. However, if your EPC is already an F or G band, then your Landlord will need to do something to bring this grade up to a minimum of an E band and a new gas boiler typically gives many brownie points to achieve this. If your tenancy is not renewed you will need to wait until April 2020 when you will be able to force your Landlord to upgrade. There is however a caveat. Your EPC score already had to be an F or G band. If you’re already an E band or higher your Landlord does not have to undertake any upgrades.

Also if you live in a listed property then these are exempt from EPCs as they are typically of a poor rating already. You tend to find that any up-grade recommendations one is unable to apply due to their detrimental effect on altering the character of the property. Though where the property is not listed tenants are becoming more switched on when it comes to EPCs and you may consider moving to a more efficient property if your Landlord is not willing to introduce some energy efficiency measures. After all energy is not unlimited and we all need to cut our consumption for the benefit of the planet.

Please continue to send in your letting related questions to steven@sawyersestateagents.co.uk