Rented homes will have to meet an energy performance certificate rating of C by the end of the decade, according to proposals set out by the government.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero says intervention is “well overdue” to “deliver the safety and security of warmer, cheaper homes that are free from damp and mould”.

It adds: “Currently, private rented homes can be rented out if they meet energy performance certificate E, while social rented homes have no minimum energy efficiency standard at all.

“The government will now shortly consult on proposals for private and social rented homes to achieve energy performance certificate C or equivalent by 2030.”

The average energy performance certificate rating of a home in England is D, with a C rating seen as the acceptable standard.

The government also announced a new Warm Homes: Local Grant to help low-income homeowners and private tenants with energy performance upgrades and cleaner heating.

The department, led by secretary of state Ed Miliband, says the move will lift over one million households out of fuel poverty.

The previous Conservative administration had planned to force private landlords to upgrade rented homes to an energy performance certificate rating of C by 2030.

But this target, along with a host of other green measures, was scrapped by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last September, citing cost of living pressures.

National Residential Landlords Association policy director Chris Norris says: “The NRLA wants to see all rented properties become as energy efficient as possible.

“However, the government’s approach must involve a clear and comprehensive plan which recognises that the sector has some of the oldest, and hardest to improve, properties in the UK’s housing stock.

Norris adds: “The sector needs a clear trajectory setting out what will be expected of it and by when. This plan must also ensure sufficient numbers of tradespeople are in place to undertake the work that will be required.”

Generation Rent chief executive Ben Twomey points out: “This is a no-brainer to lift tenants out of poverty, improve our health, and address climate change all at once.

“One in four private renters live in fuel poverty, and we cannot face another six winters in cold homes.

Twomey adds: “Any consultation must keep tenant concerns at the centre of this change, and home improvements should be paid for in grants that already exist for households at risk of fuel poverty.

“Renters must be protected from eviction and exploitation when grants received in our name improve the value of our landlords’ assets, while the government needs to be prepared to get tough with non-compliant landlords.”