Electrification for Renters

The renter energy problem

1 in 3

Australians rent. That's nearly three million households.

$4,100+

Households could be saving over $4,100 in energy bills by going all electric.

11%

Only around 11% of rental homes have solar, compared to nearly half of owner-occupied homes.

Rising Bills

Renters will be left behind paying more as gas network costs rise.

What needs to happen

Fixing the rental problem requires several reforms and actions working together.

Establish minimum standards for rentals that drive electrification

Make the true energy costs more transparent

Enable landlords to make the necessary upgrades

Support renters to take control of their energy bills

See the full plan below

Establish minimum standards for rentals that drive electrification

When a home is upgraded with electric appliances, its energy bills are slashed. As the economic benefits of electrification become clear (alongside the health and environmental benefits), the two thirds of Australians who are owner-occupiers are already making this electric upgrade, and starting to leave the gas network entirely.

Rental homes are not getting this upgrade. This is because of the ‘split incentive problem’: The one-time switching cost of electric upgrades falls on landlords, but the savings go to the bill payer - the renter.

Every state and territory must introduce minimum standards for renters

We need this regulatory framework in place immediately to correct this market failure. Once the standards are in place, the requirements can be improved over time. Victoria and ACT have led the way for the rest of Australia to follow.

Minimum standards should require gas appliances be replaced with electric versions when they break

This means mandating that the biggest energy users in the home - hot water systems and space heaters - are replaced with efficient, electric alternatives at end of life. Victoria has legislated this requirement from March 2027, making it the national leader. The replacement requirements should also require gas cooktops are replaced with electric induction to avoid costly gas connection fees.

Minimum standards should include switchboards and supporting features for electric homes

Many renters in older homes have older switchboards made of asbestos that can’t have smart meters installed. The standards should include requirements to provide switchboards that support modern energy needs, including smart meters that enable flexible energy plans like the Solar Sharer Offer, and capacity for electric appliances and basic EV charging.

What’s more, renters should have switchboard upgrades and smart meter installation required with minimum standards so renters can access retail plans that offer free solar and cheap EV charging to ensure they can get the energy plan that’s most affordable for them.

Minimum standards should at some point require car spaces to offer basic EV charging

EVs are the biggest single opportunity for Australians to cut their energy bills by eliminating petrol costs. Renters will bring EVs with them, and where a home has a car space, it will need power. Charging an EV from the grid costs just a fifth of the cost of the equivalent petrol bill for the same distance.Many renters in older homes have older switchboards made of asbestos that can’t have smart meters installed. The standards should include requirements to provide switchboards that support modern energy needs, including smart meters that enable flexible energy plans like the Solar Sharer Offer, and capacity for electric appliances and basic EV charging.

Make the costs of energy choices clearer and fairer

In most rental homes, gas appliances that break down are cheaper for the landlord to replace with new gas ones - but they’re more expensive to run for the renter.
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Mandates will do the important work of ensuring rental homes switch to all-electric over time. But because landlords don’t benefit from lower bills, some landlords will still seek out loopholes and workarounds to avoid upgrading gas appliances, and avoid investing in electrification and poorly insulated homes.
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If the true running costs of a rental were clearer, and the fixed costs of keeping the gas connection paid by landlords, it would motivate landlords to offer better quality, all-electric homes that benefit everyone. Rewiring Australia is calling for:

Shift fixed gas connection costs onto landlords (like water bills)

It’s up to landlords to choose whether to buy appliances that need a gas connection - so it should be landlords that pay the cost of that connection.
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Renters face the biggest risk from the ‘gas death spiral’, with a declining number of connected customers sharing more of the cost base of the gas network. Renters pay the whole bill, while landlords face no cost for maintaining an unnecessary connection.
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We need to shift the gas billing framework so the true underlying costs of gas connections are more fairly allocated to the property owner - who can then respond to that price. The fixed costs of gas connections in homes should be paid for by the landlord, not the renter. This is a similar system to how we treat water bills, making it simple for property managers to apply a similar process, and would create an incentive for landlords to get their rental off gas.
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This would complement minimum standards for electrification, avoiding a scenario in 2040 where renters with very old, but still-working, gas appliances pay the price of much higher gas bills they can’t avoid. It will also reduce the incentive for landlords to seek out exceptions and loopholes in any minimum standard requirements for gas replacements.
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This would also help motivate landlords to make the upgrade from gas to electric cooking if this was not included in a minimum standard.

Mandatory energy performance disclosure

When a property is advertised for rent, the landlord should be required to disclose an energy rating or estimated running costs. Renters currently have no way to know how much a home will cost to heat and cool before signing a lease. No state currently requires this at point of lease, despite a national framework being released in December 2024 that confirms the net benefit of doing so. The NSW Government is currently trialling a voluntary opt-in disclosure scheme, which should be converted to a mandatory scheme and aligned with the Minimum Standards.

Enable landlords to make the necessary upgrades

While renters need to be protected, landlords will continue to be the key decisionmakers who need to be enabled to deliver. Rewiring Australia is calling for:

Flexible finance for upgrades

One argument against minimum rental standards is that landlords may not have access to capital to upgrade their investment properties. We want a government-backed loan scheme where landlords can access no- or low-cost capital for electrification upgrades, including solar, batteries, heat pumps and gas abolishment, with the option to repay the loan when the property is sold rather than from regular income.

Because these loans can be secured on the property, it could be offered with no upfront cost and no ongoing repayments and still get repaid with inflation interest to the government. This removes the financial excuse for inaction and supports the introduction and rollout of minimum standards.

Tax incentives

States could offer a temporary Land Tax discount for landlords that install solar and/or battery. This tax applies to property investors with assets over a certain limit, and a discount incentive would provide an ongoing incentive (with an annual reminder attached) that there’s an opportunity to pay less tax by adding solar.
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The Federal Treasury currently enables businesses to deduct the full cost of an asset in the year it’s installed, rather than depreciating it over a decade or more. Landlords could have this same ability to have instant tax write-offs for electrification upgrades, like hot water heaters and solar systems, in their rental properties.

Support renters to take control of their energy bills

Even without landlord action, there are things renters should be able to do independently. Rewiring Australia is calling for:

A renter's right to plug in

Renters should have the right to connect portable clean energy devices, including portable batteries and bidirectional EV chargers, without needing landlord permission, as long as the installation meets safety standards. This requires updating Australian electrical standards to recognise plug-in clean energy devices as a category, and updating tenancy law in each state so landlords cannot unreasonably refuse a request to install a compliant outlet.

The device remains the renter's property and moves with them. It is a low-cost reform that extends the benefits of the energy transition to the one in three Australians who rent.

If you want to read more about the details, you can check out our technical discussion paper on what a ‘right to plug in’ might mean in practice.

Electric vehicle incentives

Cars are the biggest energy users and energy costs to a household - the most impactful change a renter can make is switching to an EV. Retaining measures that incentivise electric vehicles, such as the EV Fringe Benefits Tax exemption, installing better charging infrastructure for strata and on-street parking households, including powerpoints fitted in garages and near driveways, as well as switchboard upgrades that enable EV charging infrastructure.

What renters can do right now

While governments catch up, there are practical steps renters can take today, most of them low cost and portable.

Before May 31st 2026: Make your voice heard in NSW

Through May 2026, NSW is asking people if they should introduce new minimum standards for renters. You can write your own submission and you’re welcome to read ours, or you can fill out a simple survey about your own experiences and opinions for the government as well.

Cooking

The simplest and cheapest option for a renter to electrify is to buy a portable induction cooktop. It sits on the bench (can even sit on a board over your gas cooktop), plugs into a standard power point, needs no installation, and can move with you when you leave. Available from one to four elements, starting around $50.

Heating & Cooling

Ask your landlord about installing a reverse cycle air conditioner. The health impacts of gas appliances and the legal requirement to service them every two years (or annually if over ten years old) are reasonable arguments to raise. If the landlord refuses, consider a portable reverse cycle unit or a window unit. To reduce how hard any system has to work, seal gaps under doors and around windows, use thermal-lined curtains, and close doors to rooms you are not using.

Hot water

A tricky one for renters. If you are in a position to discuss it with your landlord, especially at point of breakdown, a heat pump hot water system is the most efficient option or an electric resistance with a simple timer is an affordable electric option. Some states offer rebates.

Solar

All energy retailers in South East Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia are required to provide 3 free hours of solar energy (Solar Sharer Offer) from 1 July 2026, which means renters don’t require solar panels to access some benefit.
Some renters successfully negotiate a modest rent increase for a solar system installed, as energy bills are usually reduced.

Electric vehicles

60% of a household’s energy costs is spent on fuelling their car so one of the most impactful and accessible electrification options for renters is to invest in an electric vehicle. You don’t need landlord permission and can take it with you when you leave. You can charge via a standard power point at home or use public charging.

Retail Plan

You don’t have to own solar panels to get the benefits of solar power. Many retailers offer solar ‘soaker’ style tariffs that make use of cheap daytime solar power (eg. 3 free hours) or purchase 100% renewable energy plans. Shop around at energymadeeasy.gov.au.

Our work

What is Rewiring Australia doing?

Mobilising community groups in the lead up to state elections to call for minimum rental standards, aligning incentives for rentals and enabling renters to choose.
Advocating for federal funding to enable universal access to finance.
Supporting and researching demonstration projects that test possible solutions such as portable technology pilots & affordable EV charging.