Landlords are not expected to achieve universal EPC A-C rating until 12 years after the government’s target date, research from Hamptons has suggested.
The research found at the current rate landlords are making energy efficiency improvements, it will take a further 18 years for all privately rented homes in England and Wales to achieve an EPC A-C rating and be compliant with Labour’s suggested rules.
While Hamptons pointed out this means they are due to achieve the target in 2042, later than the government’s 2030 target, it added that this still represents an acceleration from the 89 years it would have taken at 2016 rates.
This was attributed, in part, to the fact that some landlords have already been making energy upgrades to meet the Conservative’s plans that were scrapped last year.
Hamptons head of research, Aneisha Beveridge, said: “Successive changes to proposed energy efficiency rules have shifted the goalposts for landlords, some of whom face costs which could run into tens of thousands of pounds.
“Despite this, many investors have continued to improve the energy efficiency of their rental homes and we’re currently on track to see 100 per cent of rental homes where EPC A-C is viable, reach that rating within a generation.”
Beveridge added that, to meet the government’s 2030 target, the same number of homes will need to see energy upgrades over the next five years as we’ve seen to make improvements in the last 30 years.
“While a requirement for all rental homes to achieve an EPC A-C rating by 2030 is achievable at a stretch, landlords need adequate time and resources to meet it.
“It is essential that landlords receive complete clarity on this target this year.”
Recent progress
Hamptons additionally reported that, so far this year, 39 per cent of EPCs carried out on rental homes have seen the property move into a higher EPC band.
While this figure is above the long-term average, it still sits below the rate of energy upgrades seen in the years running up to 2018 when the requirement to achieve an EPC rating of at least an E was introduced.
To meet the proposed 2030 target, every year until then, around 340,000 rental homes will need to make improvements to achieve at least an EPC C rating.
However, around 115,000 will make sufficient improvements to achieve this C rating in 2024, meaning the rates will need to increase threefold each year until 2030.
So far this year, Hamptons reported that 55 per cent of all privately rented properties that had a new EPC certificate granted achieved a rating of C or better, compared to 48 per cent of owner-occupied properties.
The research added that, given the “increasing” importance of achieving an EPC C rating, rental homes moving EPC bands were most likely to move from a D rating up to a C rating.
It detailed that half of homes that were previously rated D went on to achieve at least a C rating upon reassessment this year.
