Petition Student Housing and Energy Efficiency

At present, most student houses, rented out privately, are incredibly energy inefficient, using old, inefficient boilers, single glazing, and most do not have cavity wall insulation or similar. Many students cannot afford to heat their homes properly in such a climate where energy prices are rising, tuition fees are increasing and general cost of living is greater. There are also potentially large environmental consequences of heating inefficient homes. Much of the heat generated is lost to the environment quickly, wasting large amounts of energy. This petition is to ask the Government to introduce minimum standards of energy efficiency for houses to be leant to students, to include double glazing and cavity wall insulation as a minimum. This would be a one-off cost for landlords and shouldn't create a great rise in rates of rent. Not only would it make living more affordable for students already being punished by increased costs, but it would make a positive environmental impact.