“My gaff has mould but it is my only option”

In this blog, we’re sharing stories of people living in energy inefficient homes. Centering the voices of the directly impacted is indispensable while campaigning for climate justice.

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After a long, harrowing search for a room to rent, Noel finally had no choice but to settle for one in a cold, mould-ridden house. “I was scared I wouldn't be able to get anything better,” the Cork-based student tells us.

Noel illustrates this point further.

It took me more than two months to find a gaff, though I was looking every day. In these two months I only got two (house) viewings…My main issue when I was looking is that I don't have an Irish surname, because I'm not Irish. And sometimes, the landlords would respond to my emails, ask where I am from, and when I would say that I'm from Eastern Europe, but have a job and can provide proof, they would come back to me with a short, "Sorry, the room was taken/is not available anymore".

“So, I took the only option that I had,” Noel sums up. Their struggles were far from over though. In addition to the mould, there are gaps in Noel’s window letting air in even when it’s closed, which means that during the winters, it takes a duvet and two blankets to be able to sleep without (completely) freezing. 

Noel continues, “The heating battery just doesn't produce enough heat for my room. The kitchen doesn’t even have any heater - I need to wear two sweaters and woolly socks to be able to cook my meals.” 

Noel’s is not an isolated story by any means. Like Noel, many have no choice but to live in cold, mould-ridden, poorly insulated and unhealthy homes as they are simply deprived of better alternatives—deprived, in short, by Government decisions to prioritise private profits over public needs. 

Tenants in social housing, too, share similar woes. Conor (named changed as the person wishes to be anonymous), who lives in St Andrew’s Court flats in Dublin, tells us about his struggles with dampness and mould in his house. 

We rang the Council (Dublin City Council) asking them to fix the mould and dampness, and after a long time, they eventually came to the house to help fix the dampness. They didn’t believe us that it was damage from the roof that caused the mould. They put a vent in the room which made it very cold in the winter. The problem didn’t go away, and after many months, they eventually sent out a cherry picker to fix the roof. They then covered the dampness in the room with cement making the room look terrible.

The second incident with mould was when both the rooms in the house got damp spots from the wood on the inside of the wall, Conor continues.

They thought we weren’t opening the windows even though we had been. Like the first time, they decided to make more air vents in the toilet in the second room and downstairs. The mould eventually went away but the house is now absolutely freezing and has a huge draft of wind during the winter. So it felt like they fixed the mould after ages, left damage to the house and created a new problem.

The environmental, economical and health implications of poorly insulated homes

This issue of poor insulation or the lack of retrofitting has a myriad of ramifications. Poor insulation means more fossil fuel use, which aggravates the climate crisis. Such poorly insulated homes are rampant across Ireland. In fact, the majority of our housing stock is energy inefficient – Irish homes use 7% more energy than the EU average and emit almost 60% more CO2. 

The residential sector in Ireland is responsible for over 15% of energy-related CO₂ emissions, and as of 2022, 46% of all Irish households still depended on high-carbon fuels like oil, peat, and coal. In fact, Ireland relied on fossil fuels for more than 80 per cent of the overall energy consumption last year, importing 148,700 barrels worth of oil a day. 

This is simply unacceptable given the reality of the dire climate emergency we’re in. As political scientist Leah Cardamore Stokes said, “You probably wouldn’t feel good about living next to a fossil fuel power plant so why do we invite these dirty appliances into our homes?” And yet, this is precisely what the lack of Government action is forcing us to put up with. 

Poor insulation/lack of retrofitting also means having to keep the heater on longer, resulting in high energy bills. Besides, dependence on fossil fuel heating entails volatile price fluctuations. We saw this happening post Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - energy prices surged, making households more vulnerable to eye-watering energy bills, resulting in energy poverty.

Amid soaring rent and housing prices, as well as the interlinked cost-of-living crisis in the country at large, the extortionate energy bills associated with poorly insulated homes serve to further push people to the brink. More than 300,000 households are now in arrears on their electricity bills, a record high. Between 2019 and 2023, the cost of energy rose by 58%, and annual costs climbed by about €2,000 for many people. 

What is more, poor insulation also means we’re at health risk in our own homes. In Ireland, household energy poverty is associated with a lower likelihood of children being healthy overall. What is more, children who are hospitalised more often live in cold homes/in households at risk of energy poverty. In fact, children living in homes that undergo energy upgrades are reported to miss 15% less days of school. 

Who are the worst impacted—and also the most overlooked by Government policies?

 It’s glaringly evident that retrofitting homes is the most effective way to simultaneously address emissions reduction targets, lower household energy bills as well as foster healthier and more resilient communities.Yet, the current Government retrofitting policy isn’t sufficient or just by any means—it remains heavily skewed toward higher income homeowners. 

Energy efficiency upgrades—which are a linked environmental, social and economic necessity—  remain inaccessible to those who need them the most. International students and immigrants in general, as Noel’s story illustrates, are among those groups who bear the brunt of such issues. Studies show that adverse housing circumstances in Ireland are consistently associated with membership of a minority ethnic group. 

A 2020 first field experiment on ethnic discrimination in the rental housing market in Ireland revealed that Irish applicants are more likely to be invited to view an apartment than both Polish and Nigerian applicants. A report this year by the Irish Council for International Students (ICOS) on renting in Ireland for international students found that one in ten respondents did not have heating in their accommodation.

Others worst impacted by poor quality housing include low income earners, single parent homes, disabled people and marginalised communities at large. After all, climate issues, such as this, are multipliers of existing inequalities and injustices. It’s always those communities that are already struggling and vulnerable that are hit the hardest by climate issues. Despite this, unfortunately, they are also the most overlooked by Government policies. 

Tenants are left out in the cold

Besides, if you’re renting as well, it means you’re further beleaguered. After all, multiple forms of social identities intersect and interact with each other, distinctly impacting and compounding the way people across these social categories experience issues. 

Tenants or renters overall are also among the most affected—and overlooked—groups when it comes to poor quality housing and lack of essential retrofitting. This is because tenants in both private rental and social housing - like Noel and Conor respectively - most often have no control over even basic insulation or heating system upgrades, as these decisions are controlled by the landlord.

Besides, current Government retrofitting schemes offer next to no support to landlords to retrofit the homes they’re letting. As landlords will have to incur the cost of retrofitting while not receiving its direct benefits, they need support to retrofit the homes they are renting - commonly referred to as the “split incentive” barrier.. 

The doubly whammy impact of the lack of tenants’ agency and the lack of incentives or support for landlords is that tenants are left out in the cold. This is despite renters constituting a significant portion of our population, with over half a million people living in rented properties in the country (as of 2022). Tenants in Ireland, particularly younger generations and low-income households, are feeling the pressure of the cost-of-living and housing crises. 

We can no longer leave thousands of tenants footing extortionate bills to heat damp, heat-leaking homes—while landlords face no obligation, and limited guidance, to invest in essential energy upgrades. Living in a warm, healthy home should no longer be a luxury that only a privileged few can afford.

Retrofitting Ireland’s homes will require tailor-made tools for the rental sector

There’s no two ways about it: retrofitting Ireland’s homes will require tailor-made tools for the rental sector.

Everyone deserves to live in a warm, healthy home that doesn’t wreak havoc on their health, finances and the environment. This is the bare minimum and the Government should make it accessible and affordable for all.

Through our Tenants for Climate Justice campaign, we’re calling on the Government to:

•  Be bolder where the state already owns the stock: 100% of social housing should be retrofitted by 2030, starting with the worst-performing homes, and provide greater and multi-annual funding for local authorities to ramp up their retrofit programmes.
•  Don’t leave renters out in the cold: We need minimum energy efficiency standards/minimum Building Energy Ratings (BER) for private rentals, targeting the worst performing first.
• Address the most leaky homes: Extend the Warmer Home Schemes to be accessible for HAP tenancies, on the condition of a long-term lease (5+ years) being offered to the tenant.

These measures can unleash multiple benefits for our health, well-being, finances and our environment. Importantly, this would ensure that vulnerable communities are not left out in the cold. Social housing and private rentals represent a critical opportunity for targeted interventions for a socially-just energy transition. 

The Government now has a major responsibility—and indeed opportunity—to ensure decent, affordable and fossil-free homes for all, while also bringing Ireland closer to achieving its legally binding climate objectives.

Together, let’s demand homes that are warm, healthy, and sustainable—not just for some, but for all.

Text by Nandana James, Communications Content Officer