Three out of four renters in Australia are cutting back on heating and cooling to reduce energy costs amid the cost of living crisis.
That is according to research from tenant advocates at Better Renting, who also found one in three renters described being “too cold almost all the time” in winter as part of a new report.
Lisa Marie Kantaroski, 41, from the Illawarra in NSW spent 19 years living in a house which was so rough she said it sparked nightmares.
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She has only just paid the last bill from her electric heater from her years living there, having left in May.
”Walking to the house was like walking into a freezer,” she said.
“My dad came to visit me, and then called me later and said, ‘I’ve been having nightmares about your place—it’s so cold! Why do you live there?’ That’s how cold it was.”
But in the summer, the house was ”too hot to be in,” she said.
Kantaroski also had serious issues with mould, which she said the property manager blamed on her.
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She now has a new apartment which has a gas connection for a heater, which is an improvement.
But it is humid with only ceiling fans.
She wants to see better heating and cooling standards in rental properties.
”There should be something you can use that does cost the earth,” she said.
Better Renting said it spoke to over 1400 renters about experiences of rent and energy costs.
Increased rent and energy costs combined with inefficient homes left many renters barely getting by and living in unhealthy temperatures, according to Better Renting Executive Director Joel Dignam.
“What we’ve seen over these past months is a combination of a tight rental market, high energy costs, and an especially cold winter,” he said.
“So renters have been pushed into substandard homes, landlords aren’t doing repairs and renters are reluctant to speak up, then at the same time they are cutting back on energy usage.
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“It is an awful situation to be in: to be worrying how to make ends meet, while shivering in a home that is unhealthy just to live in.”
Dignam called for governments to establish minimum standards for rental homes and to increase the market power of renters.
“State governments can help make this happen by establishing minimum energy performance standards for rental homes — like Victoria and the ACT are doing,” he said.
Survey responses also indicated that a quarter of homes had adequate ceiling insulation, and 12 per cent had no heating or cooling.
Evidence that cold indoor temperatures have adverse consequences for health is growing, the Word Health Organisation has said.
Each state has different rules on heating properties.
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