Fit to Rent: Healthy homes in hot summers | Rental Owners Forum NSW (Online)

Far too many New South Wales renters are living in homes that were never designed for today’s climate, especially with the heatwaves that are becoming more frequent and intense. That means homes are uncomfortable, unhealthy, and too expensive or impossible to properly cool and heat. 

But there’s a solution that can help solve this problem: mandatory rental standards for energy efficiency in NSW. 

Most landlords wouldn’t want their tenants to be living in unsafe housing, in the same way that they wouldn’t want their own children or relatives to have to rent unsafe housing. But many people might not be aware of the risks of living in a home that is not efficient and doesn’t have adequate heating and cooling. They may also not be aware of the financial supports – including loans and rebates – that are in place that can help with home efficiency upgrades.

Speakers:

Dick Clarke, founder of Envirotecture

Dick Clarke is an Accredited Building Designer with over 35 years experience and many Design Awards, focusing on buildings that are genuinely sustainable, healthy, comfortable and energy efficient.

He worked with the late Dr Chris Reardon and Ms Cecille Weldon on the CSIRO's Liveability Real Estate course, which gives investor-owner landlords strategies to retain good tenants by reducing their utility bills and improving their comfort, while reducing the environmental footprint of rental properties.

Helen Oakey, CEO of Renew

Renew have done the modelling and released new research that proves while there definitely needs to be an investment to lift the quality of rental properties, with the right finance models and potentially support from governments (as is on offer in NSW), achieving significant improvements in safety, efficiency and health is within reach.

Join Renew in conversation as we discuss our research on Minimum Energy Efficiency Rental Standards (MEERS).

Free online event with presentations and Q&A.

Read the full report: https://renew.org.au/advocacy/fit-to-rent-report/

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which this event takes place. We recognise their deep and continuing connection to the land, and their rich contribution to society. We pay our respects to Elders, past and present, and acknowledge that Sovereignty of these lands was never ceded.

This project was funded by Energy Consumers Australia as part of its Grants Program to support consumer advocacy and research projects that benefit of household and small business consumers. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Energy Consumers Australia.

Accessibility:

This event will be held online via video conference.

Please email projects (at) renew.org.au if you have any accessibility requests or queries.