Miatta Fahnbulleh, Minister for Energy Consumers , recently confirmed Labour’s commitment to reduce the number of fuel poor households in England. Miatta confirmed that Labour would “require landlords to improve their properties to Energy Performance Certificate standard C by 2030. Ensuring warmer, healthier private rented homes will lift many families out of fuel poverty and reduce energy bills.“
The EPC regulatory changes look as if they will affect both landlords of residential and commercial property, with Ed Miliband stating in parliamentary debate that “One thing that this Government will do that the last Government did not is demand that landlords raise the standard of their accommodation to a proper energy performance certificate standard C by 2030.“
Although the changes have been broadly supported, a few organisations have raised concerns over the finanicial implications for landlords and the private rental sector.
Propertymark, a professional body for estate and commercial agents, has been in contact with Ed Miliband to discuss the viability of the plans. Their concerns are primarily focused around the support the government will be providing, especially given that a 2024 poll of property owners found that 35% of them couldn’t afford the upfront cost of energy efficiency improvements.
EPC Rating of C by 2030: Pros and Cons for Tenants
Although the changing of the EPC requirements for the private rental sector are designed to benefit tenants who are energy poor, there will be a much greater reprecussions across the entire PRS. Landlords will have to make these changes to allow them to continue renting both commercial and residential, these changes will have significant costs and will cause considerable disruption to tenants.
The changes required could be anything from the installation of new heat pumps, changing windows to improving building insulation. All this work could mean tenants are forced to move out while work is completed or live on building sites.
The work will reduce the energy bills and running costs for these premises, however it is also likely that landlords will raise their rents in order to recoupe some of their investments. Meaning that although you’re saving money on your bills, this saving might be offset by potential increases in rental fees.
EPC Rating of C by 2030: Challenges for Landlords
As mentioned the changes in EPC regulations for landlords will have a huge impact across the private rental sector, with the majority of rental properties currently having an EPC rating of at least E there’s a lot of work to be done. This not only puts a considerable amount of finanical pressure on landlords, but it has some implications for building services engineers and contractors as there are a finite number of people who are able to complete this work.
Given that there are a significant number of property owners unable to afford the improvements to their buildings, there have been calls to incentivise these changes for landlords rather than punishing non-compliance.
As the picture becomes clearer we will continue keep you up to date, on how the changes will affect you.