New research shows popularity of smart meters in rental properties
- Admin
- Aug 5
- 4 min read
The majority of tenants in rental properties (55%) now have smart meters, new research shows.
Findings from our 2025 Voice of the Landlord and Voice of the Tenant surveys shows they are the third-commonest energy efficiency measure installed in rental properties (after insulation and more efficient gas boilers). Just under half of all landlords have installed them. Another 41% say they will prioritise this energy efficiency measure in future.
Free to install, the handy devices measure how much electricity and/or gas is being used at a property. They automatically send this information to the energy supplier. Although smart meters are not specifically designed to reduce energy use, but rather to monitor it, they can be very useful for pinning down which appliances are costing the most and thus helping households cut unnecessary usage. Additionally, they mean energy suppliers won’t make guesses about households’ usage, with estimated bills of sometimes dubious accuracy. Research has shown that installing smart meters results in an average 3% saving in electricity and 2.2% saving in gas.[1] This fits with other existing findings that 9 in 10 private renters say they’ve experienced benefits from a smart meter.[2]
Additional cost, efficiency, and carbon savings beyond this can come from the improved tariffs that energy suppliers often offer smart meter users nowadays (such as Octopus Energy’s ‘Cosy Octopus’ tariff[3]).
Consumer confidence in smart meters
Consumer confidence in smart meters felt lower around the peak of the 2021/2022 energy price crisis, with concerns that energy suppliers could non-consensually switch the meter into ‘prepay’ mode if a household had debts. This likely partially explains the 48% of Voice of the Tenant respondents who say they don’t want a smart meter.
However, it’s important to note that there are now multiple safeguards in place to prevent this situation. It isn’t legal for suppliers to do this without warning householders, without trying alternative debt resolution methods first, or if the energy debt is small or recent. And smart meters in prepay mode cannot be forced non-consensually upon elderly, disabled, or otherwise vulnerable householders.[4] Our research shows that consumer confidence in smart meters seems to be getting over this slight dip.
Now, besides the 55% majority figure overall, we found particular groups of tenants who are especially likely to have smart meters: tenants in rural locations (61%), tenants receiving benefits (59%), tenant households with children (60%), tenants who are carers/homemakers (65%), and retired tenants (64%).
Confusion over permissions for smart meters
However, despite this popularity, our research shows that some tenants who would like a smart meter still don’t have one. This is often simply because there’s confusion over who can request, refuse, or give permission for these.
Guidance from energy regulator Ofgem actually says that whoever pays for the gas or electricity at the property can request a smart meter.
So if the tenant pays the energy bills, the decision is mainly theirs. But in rentals where the landlord covers the energy bills, it’s up to them to request installation (or else decide they don’t want one). However, Ofgem also cautions that it’s advisable for all tenants to talk with the landlord about installation first, in case there are any rules around the property’s energy supply or in case installation causes damage.
On the flip side of this, Ofgem advises that landlords ‘should not unreasonably prevent it’ if a bill-paying tenant is keen to get a smart meter.[5]. Examples of this might be found amongst the 7% of tenants who want a smart meter but said they were denied permission for one by their landlord.
This confusion around permissions is reflected in the stats: around a third of tenants (31%) with smart meters had them installed with their landlord’s permission, whilst just under a quarter (22%) incorrectly had them installed without asking their landlord first. A sizeable 34% say they’d like one but mistakenly thought that smart meters were not possible in rental properties. For 47% of tenants, the meter was already there when they moved in.
Technical challenges can also be an issue. More than one in ten tenants say they’d like a smart meter yet had been told by an engineer this wasn’t possible. As connectivity of smart meter signal improves (following new upgrades from the Data Communications Company, who run the network), this percentage will hopefully shrink a little. For tenants or landlords who are keen to join the majority and install a smart meter, being able to do this more smoothly will be a positive step forward.
About the surveys
The Voice of the Tenant Survey is a regular national survey funded by the TDS Charitable Foundation. It explores people’s experiences of living in the private rented sector in England and tracks how trends are changing over time. Focusing on issues related to affordability, tenure security and property conditions, this representative survey commenced in 2022 and is repeated annually with a new sample of over 2000 tenants. Each wave includes a key topical issue; the most recent wave (conducted in March 2025) includes questions on energy efficiency.
The full results of the survey can be accessed here.
The TDS Charitable Foundation’s Voice of the Landlord Survey is a regular national survey of landlords’ characteristics and experiences of letting property in the English private rented sector. Complementing the Foundation’s Voice of the Tenant Survey, over 2,000 landlords were asked various questions related to affordability, changes to their portfolio, and property conditions. The survey commenced in 2024 and will be repeated annually to track changes and trends over time. This report outlines the findings from the second wave, carried out in April 2025.
The full results of the survey are available here.
[2] Opinium Research for Smart Energy GB, private renters study Oct 2023
[3] https://octopus.energy/smart/cosy-octopus/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=typefrom&utm_campaign=smart-tariffs
[4] https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/prepayment-meters-consumer-guidance#Installing%20a%20meter%20without%20permission
