More than a third of Australians have rooftop solar, and 30 per cent of Australians rent their homes – yet there is very little overlap between those groups.
The same is true for other energy performance features – renters are almost twice as likely to lack insulation in their homes, for example.
Australians who own their own home now have access to a wide range of home energy upgrades that are highly effective at cutting energy bills, but renters are at risk of being left behind.
At the root of the problem is the “split incentive” dilemma: Landlords are responsible for upgrading rental properties, but they lack the financial motivation, as energy bills are paid by the tenants.
Prior attempts to address this problem by providing incentives to landlords have seen underwhelming results. A federal government program in the 2000s offered a $1,000 rebate for landlords to install insulation, aiming to reach 700,000 properties. Less than 1% of that target was achieved.
