In response to the Government launching its Warm Homes Plan today, Vann Vogstad, Founder and CEO of COHO, offers comment.
“The Warm Homes Plan is well-intentioned, but it risks overlooking the shared housing and HMO sector, which is a significant part of the UK housing system. While landlords are mentioned within the Warm Homes Plan, the practical focus and financial support still appears to be weighted towards owner-occupiers.
“Over two million house-sharing tenants live in homes where energy bills are typically included, meaning landlords already have a direct financial incentive to manage energy use efficiently. If carbon reduction is the aim, along with cutting energy bills, policy needs to ensure that landlords are not only referenced but meaningfully incentivised, as investment decisions in the rental and HMO market are driven by financial viability, not ideology. Without that alignment, uptake will be uneven and the overall impact of the policy will be reduced.
“Offering low-interest loans is not enough. Support mechanisms need to bring meaningful change to the economics otherwise uptake will be slower and patchier in the rental and HMO sector, limiting the policy’s overall effectiveness and putting additional upward pressure on rents. Latest ONS private rent figures out today show that average UK monthly private rents increased by 4.0%, to £1,368, in the 12 months to December 2025.
“The industry also needs greater clarity from the Government around the “new rules to ensure landlords invest in upgrades to cut bills for renters and social tenants”, as mentioned in the Warm Homes Plan, if we’re to see change.
“Encouraging landlords to install greener technology absolutely makes sense, but it works best when policy recognises how shared housing actually operates and supports investment in a way that reflects those commercial realities.”
