Paul Murphy’s Building Energy Rating (BER) Standards for Private Rented Accommodation Bill 2025 was debated in the Dáil this week and it will be voted on by TDs on Wednesday of next week.
The provisions of the BER Bill require landlords to retrofit their private rented homes, on a phased basis, to reach B2 BER standard by 2030. The required retrofitting of private rented homes will reduce energy costs for tenants and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said “My Bill will be debated just as we are in the grip of the first cold snap of the winter. Tenants are feeling the cold as 3 of every 4 private rented dwellings in Ireland have a BER energy rating below B2. One in 5 private rented homes have a BER of E, F or G, the lowest energy ratings.
“Poor BER ratings mean that hundreds of thousands of families across the country who are renting from private landlords are now choosing between paying to heat poorly insulated homes and cutting back on food or other essential items. No one should be placed in this position”.
People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy said, “Poor energy ratings have a big cost of living impact on many renter households. A Government report recently found that over 300,000 households are in arrears on their electricity and/or gas bills. Many of these households are tenants renting homes with poor energy efficiency. As a renter myself, I am one such household facing high energy costs.
“Tenants can rarely carry out retrofitting work as lack of security of tenure means we could be evicted at any time and would not therefore benefit from any retrofitting we carried out. Landlords have mostly failed to retrofit their properties because they are not the ones who have to suffer cold and damp or pay high energy bills. Our Bill is a necessary measure to address this situation”.
Deputy Murphy said, “The Government has failed to implement its own commitment in Housing for All to introduce a minimum BER for private rental property from 2025. To address these government and landlord failings, People Before Profit has introduced the Building Energy Rating (BER) Standards for Private Rented Accommodation Bill 2025 to make it mandatory for private rented accommodation to achieve a minimum B2 Building Energy Rating (BER), on a phased basis, by the end of 2030.
“The BER Bill will be debated this week and voted on next Wednesday, 26th November. I urge the Government to support this Bill and enable it to be enacted as soon as possible to bring down energy bills and reduce greenhouse emissions”.