Jesuit Social Services has made a submission in support of the introduction of Minimum Energy Efficiency Rental Standards (MEERS) in New South Wales.
Poor energy efficiency in rental homes is not only a housing quality issue, but also a matter of equity, health and climate resilience. Our experience working alongside communities in Mount Druitt in Western Sydney shows that renters in poorly maintained homes are often forced to choose between unaffordable energy bills and unsafe living conditions, including extreme heat, extreme cold and persistent mould.
These harms are felt most acutely by people already facing social and economic disadvantage, including low-income households, First Nations communities, older people, people with chronic illness or disability, and public housing tenants with limited capacity to improve their homes or move elsewhere.
MEERS are needed to address a structural market failure in which landlords have little incentive to invest in upgrades, while tenants bear the costs of poor-performing homes through higher bills, worse health outcomes and reduced wellbeing.
Any standards introduced in NSW should be enforceable, apply across private and public housing, and be accompanied by strong protections to prevent upgrade costs being passed on to renters. Compliance should not rely on tenant complaints alone, given the significant barriers many renters face in asserting their rights.
Alongside MEERS, the NSW Government should pursue complementary measures including upgrades to existing public housing, stronger planning and urban design responses to extreme heat, and targeted action in communities experiencing the greatest climate and socio-economic disadvantage.
