It has been announced that the Government will make it a legal obligation for landlords of private rented properties where utility bills are included in the rent to pass on the cost of living crisis £400 energy bills rebate to their tenants.

Currently there is no legal requirement for landlords to pass this rebate on to their tenants who have these types of tenancy agreements. Charities had raised concerns that, without a legal obligation in place, there would be a cohort of landlords that would take undue advantage of the rebate provision and make extra profit from not passing the rebate on. This would occur because in these circumstances the rebate is paid in the first place to the landlord and not the tenant.

Over half a million households (equivalent to 13% of the private rented sector) currently have the energy bills included in the rent they pay.

It has not been announced when the new legislation will be made and the legislative timetable is already fairly tight but the National Residential Landlords Association has welcomed the news whilst asking for more clarity from Government as to how the rebate will properly be distributed so that neither landlords nor tenants are left out of pocket.