A spatial typology of energy (in)efficiency in the private rental sector in England and Wales using Energy Performance Certificates

Caitlin Robinson; Ed Atkins; Tom Cantellow; Meixu Chen; Lenka Hasova; Alex Singleton

doi:10.1177/23998083251377128

A spatial typology of energy (in)efficiency in the private rental sector in England and Wales using Energy Performance Certificates

Caitlin Robinson^*, Ed Atkins, Tom Cantellow, Meixu Chen, Lenka Hasova, Alex Singleton

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

Abstract

Like many countries globally, the private rental sector in England and Wales contains some of the lowest quality, inefficient properties, despite being home to many of the most vulnerable households. We present a new data product that classifies small areas based on the energy (in)efficiency characteristics of private rental properties. Newly available Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data enables us to analyse detailed energy and housing characteristics for 3.9 million private rentals (~78.8% of total sector), the most comprehensive dataset of its kind, using k-means clustering. Demographic datasets allow us to explore wider socio-spatial inequalities, and uncertainties associated with granular - but at-times incomplete - EPC data. The classification can be used to evidence how inefficiency is spatially concentrated and fragmented, with a diverse range of energy and housing conditions shaping the everyday lives of tenants.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2316-2325
Number of pages	10
Journal	Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design
Volume	52
Issue number	9
Early online date	2 Sept 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/23998083251377128
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 2 Sept 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

Research Groups and Themes

States, Economies and Societies
Jean Golding
Cabot Institute Low Carbon Energy Research
Cabot Institute City Futures Research

Keywords

Energy efficiency
Private renting
Housing inequality
Energy Performance Certificate
K-means clustering

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1177/23998083251377128Licence: CC BY

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Persistent link

Mapping ambient vulnerabilities: Air-energy-climate interrelations in the urban environment and implications for cross-sectoral governance.
Robinson, C. (Principal Investigator)
1/10/21 → 1/10/25
Project: Research

Cite this

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title = "A spatial typology of energy (in)efficiency in the private rental sector in England and Wales using Energy Performance Certificates",

abstract = "Like many countries globally, the private rental sector in England and Wales contains some of the lowest quality, inefficient properties, despite being home to many of the most vulnerable households. We present a new data product that classifies small areas based on the energy (in)efficiency characteristics of private rental properties. Newly available Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data enables us to analyse detailed energy and housing characteristics for 3.9 million private rentals (\textasciitilde{}78.8\% of total sector), the most comprehensive dataset of its kind, using k-means clustering. Demographic datasets allow us to explore wider socio-spatial inequalities, and uncertainties associated with granular - but at-times incomplete - EPC data. The classification can be used to evidence how inefficiency is spatially concentrated and fragmented, with a diverse range of energy and housing conditions shaping the everyday lives of tenants. ",

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AU - Singleton, Alex

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

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N2 - Like many countries globally, the private rental sector in England and Wales contains some of the lowest quality, inefficient properties, despite being home to many of the most vulnerable households. We present a new data product that classifies small areas based on the energy (in)efficiency characteristics of private rental properties. Newly available Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data enables us to analyse detailed energy and housing characteristics for 3.9 million private rentals (~78.8% of total sector), the most comprehensive dataset of its kind, using k-means clustering. Demographic datasets allow us to explore wider socio-spatial inequalities, and uncertainties associated with granular - but at-times incomplete - EPC data. The classification can be used to evidence how inefficiency is spatially concentrated and fragmented, with a diverse range of energy and housing conditions shaping the everyday lives of tenants.

AB - Like many countries globally, the private rental sector in England and Wales contains some of the lowest quality, inefficient properties, despite being home to many of the most vulnerable households. We present a new data product that classifies small areas based on the energy (in)efficiency characteristics of private rental properties. Newly available Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data enables us to analyse detailed energy and housing characteristics for 3.9 million private rentals (~78.8% of total sector), the most comprehensive dataset of its kind, using k-means clustering. Demographic datasets allow us to explore wider socio-spatial inequalities, and uncertainties associated with granular - but at-times incomplete - EPC data. The classification can be used to evidence how inefficiency is spatially concentrated and fragmented, with a diverse range of energy and housing conditions shaping the everyday lives of tenants.

KW - Energy efficiency

KW - Private renting

KW - Housing inequality

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KW - K-means clustering

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ER -

A spatial typology of energy (in)efficiency in the private rental sector in England and Wales using Energy Performance Certificates

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Research Groups and Themes

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Handle.net

Fingerprint

Projects

Mapping ambient vulnerabilities: Air-energy-climate interrelations in the urban environment and implications for cross-sectoral governance.

Cite this