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The National Union of Students (NUS) and Eaga Charitable Trust have published a report on their research into student experiences of energy in the private rented sector, titled Homes Fit for Study.

Headline statistics from the research are as follows:

• 29% had requested an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) but didn't receive one - and those who reported being uncomfortably cold in their accommodation were less likely to have done so.
• 42% struggled at least from time to time to pay their energy bills, and those who reported feeling uncomfortably cold were more likely to say that paying bills was a struggle.
• Energy bills and rent payments were the most commonly reported type of payment that respondents had found themselves unable to pay (7%).
• 38% had experienced damp or mould on walls or ceilings in their current accommodation, and those who lived in cold homes were more likely to report this experience.
• 9% said they didn’t have any control of the heating where they lived, with some focus group participants noting that control was retained by their landlord.
• 55% said their accommodation was much, or a bit colder, than they would have liked over the winter, and 49% had felt uncomfortably cold in their accommodation.
• 43% had turned their heating off even though they would have liked it on because of concerns about energy costs.

For more information and to download the full report or the summary report, visit:
https://sustainability.nus.org.uk/our-r ... -for-study