Everyone deserves a warm, healthy home

Cold draughty “sitting room” set up outside Dáil urging Government to implement basic energy efficiency standards for rented homes

Everyone deserves a warm, healthy home. 

We staged a photo stunt in front of Dáil Éireann today to highlight the plight of renters, who are paying extortionate rent while being forced to live in sub-standard, under-insulated homes, due to the lack of any basic energy efficiency standards for rented accommodation. We’re urging all TDs to vote in favour of an opposition Bill to introduce minimum Building Energy Rating (BER) standards for private rented accommodation. This Bill will undergo second stage debate in Dáil Éireann this evening. 

Campaigning and advocating for the implementation of basic energy efficiency standards for tenants has been a long standing feature of Friends of the Earth’s work on energy poverty issue.There is an urgent need for regulations that require landlords to ensure that accommodation meets minimum energy efficiency standards before it can be put up for rent. 

Ensuring that rented accommodation meets basic energy efficiency and building standards is the minimum that renters should be able to expect in 2025. Living in an energy inefficient home doesn't just feel miserable—it drives up energy bills, harms health and worsens the climate crisis. This is a climate justice and social justice issue—not like there’s ever separating the two!

Without these standards, renters are being locked out of the climate and energy transition, and being forced to live in cold, damp accommodation, with no agency over their heating systems and insulation levels. Insulating homes to at least some minimum standard is as important as fixing a leaking roof— and no landlord should be exempt from that responsibility. 

We are also calling for strong protections to shield tenants from higher housing costs or housing insecurity that may follow as a result of renovations that are triggered by minimum BER regulations.

To learn more out BERs and the issue, read our blog 'Why we need minimum Building Energy Ratings in private rental homes'.