Heatwave Plan: Sydney Rental Landlords Could Soon Be Required To Install Cooling Systems
Image: Normal and infrared aerial image showing temperature differences of roof materials and colours. Image: S. Pfautsch, Western Sydney University.
New South Wales landlords could soon be required to make changes to properties to protect tenants from extreme indoor temperatures, if a new set of recommendations aimed at reducing heatwave impacts is adopted.
The Heat Smart City Plan, developed under the Greater Sydney Heat Taskforce—a collaboration of government, industry, and community organisations—outlines six key directions and 40 recommendations to build a city that’s resilient during a heatwave.
Co-designed by groups across health, planning, design, infrastructure, emergency management, community, and corporate sectors, the plan includes calls for enforceable minimum thermal standards for rental properties and incentives for landlords to retrofit homes to improve cooling.
Heatwave plan calls for enforceable living standards for rental properties
The newly launched Heat Smart Plan proposes setting and enforcing thermal performance standards for residential rental properties, including retrofit incentives targeting high-risk areas.
The plan calls for an exploration of minimum standards, a review of potential reforms such as the Residential Tenancies Act 2010, and proposals for enforcement, funding, and delivery mechanisms to support home retrofits.
The report highlights that indoor temperatures in rental homes often exceed World Health Organisation standards for healthy living environments, underscoring the need for these changes, particularly during a heatwave or high temperatures of an Australian summer.
The Heat Smart City Plan highlights the critical need for heat-safe rental properties, noting that most at risk of heat-related illnesses or deaths are often renters in private or social housing.
Additionally, rental tenants are more likely to live in low energy efficiency homes, have limited abilities to make alterations, and may have less capacity to pay for energy bills and other services to keep themselves safe.
Renters pay 8% more in energy bills than homeowners
Research has found that inefficient appliances and a lack of weatherproofing have forced renters to pay an average of 8% more in energy bills than homeowners in like-for-like homes.
A 2022 study of 100 homes found that over 80% had average winter temperatures below 18°C, the minimum deemed safe by the World Health Organisation. Additionally, indoor temperatures in rental properties often exceed WHO standards for healthy homes.
Western Sydney resident Elise told the Taskforce the challenges of renting, citing the lack of autonomy to “make structural changes that could make our housing safer and more liveable in extreme heat, or make our cooling costs cheaper.”
The report states that measures including insulation, window coverings, sealing doors and windows and providing decent heating and cooling systems are critical to lower energy bills and improve the occupant’s health and wellbeing.
“The principle of no-one left behind was considered critical by the Taskforce. This initiative proposes to develop evidence-based recommendations for enforceable, minimum thermal standards for rental accommodation, supported by a program of retrofit incentives targeting areas of greatest risk,” the report states.
Chair of the Greater Sydney Heat Taskforce, Mr Kerry Robinson OAM, stated, “Heat has killed more Australians than fire, flood and storms combined, and has far-reaching impacts on community wellbeing, the economy, infrastructure, and the environment. Pregnant lady fanning herself outdoors.”
He added, “It has been estimated that the cost of heatwaves in Western Sydney alone is $1.4 billion per year and growing. These costs impact businesses, households and government services. We can’t afford not to act.”
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