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EPCs for rental properties

Journalist: Callum Mason, i

ended 25. September 2023

Landlords were going to have to up their properties to EPC C by 2025 (for new lets) and 2028 for all lets. But they will no longer have to.

Rishi Sunak said last week that he expected that the rule as it stood would ‘more than likely see some of that cost passed on in higher rents’. 

Will the scrapping of the plans stop rents going up significantly? Or are they unlikely to make much of a difference?

11 responses from the Newspage community

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Simon Bridgland
Director at Charwin Private Clients
The pressure of the EPC deadlines was only one aspect of rent increases. Just like residential mortgages, landlords with buy-to-let products have felt huge pressures, rises in interest rates, stress testing and not being able to offset mortgage payments against rental income. This means tenants will still face significant increases in rental payments as the landlords need to run a solvent business. Previously solid property investments are now on a much weaker foundation, so increases in costs can only be passed one way if the investor is to remain a landlord. A huge number of let properties are owned by private investors who were looking for a safe home for their money. Making it untenable for them will result in less property available rent and so drive up rents further. Speaking to a landlord recently, even after a significant and might I say reluctant rent increase, after the tax changes, they are still out of pocket by over £300 per month, can you guess what they're considering?
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Michelle Lawson
Director at Lawson Financial
Energy efficiency for Landlords has never been an incentive or priority as there was no gain just a huge outlay and another piece of restrictive legislation to bring to the already diminishing sector. Arguably, this is not the cause of the rent rises in the sector- this is all about supply and demand. This will be welcomed by most but those that have spent money will understandably not be happy. I hope the penny is finally dropping that the sector is on its knees and action needs to be taken however given a General Election is around the corner I fear this could be a vote-catching can-kicking exercise. Hopefully the Renters Reform Bill will be next!
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Emma Jones
Managing Director at Whenthebanksaysno.co.uk
I think this would have been a way to remove 'bad landlords' leaving properties in unlettable conditions so not necessarily a bad move in the first place. There still needs to be a focus on the living conditions that some landlords put on their tenants due to some still living in poor conditions. Questions need to be asked about whether the government think about these decisions or whether are they knee-jerk. This decision cost money to landlords and lenders who have been gearing up for this since the change was originally announced.
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Debbie Porter
Managing Director at Destination Digital Marketing
I own a property that I have let out for the last 10 years. It’s a heritage property in a conservation area of a market town. With solid walls, no loft space, an inability to install double glazing, or alter the exterior to install solar panels that are strictly forbidden, all that could be managed were the installation of LED lightbulbs. Reaching EPC C in 2025 or at any other point was always going to be a nonstarter. I was ready to explore other options such as taking it out of housing stock and putting it into the holiday let industry instead, which would not have been popular with the local community. Interacting with the government website on changes that could be made to a property to achieve a grade C highlighted quite clearly how unrealistic the scheme was in the first place. With some alterations costing tens of thousands of pounds, pitched against a cost neutralisation in 30 years time made it obvious to see how unrealistic some of the energy saving initiatives were.
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Imran Khan
Co-founder & CEO at QuantumLoopAI
The scrapping of EPC regulations is a much-needed break for landlords, but it won't stop rents from increasing. Other financial pressures like looming interest rate hikes remain." While this reprieve offers temporary relief, it doesn't address the root issues landlords face, especially with the removal of interest mortgage relief making the sector increasingly unviable. "If climate regulations are reintroduced, landlords need to be supported with grants. But the most immediate relief would come from reinstating interest mortgage relief." Overall, the EPC rollback may prevent rents from skyrocketing further, but there's still significant work to be done to help both landlords and tenants.
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Peter Stamford
Mortgage Expert at Stamford Home Finance
Ditching EPC guidelines may seem like a win for landlords, but it's a smokescreen. The real culprits hiking your rent—interest rates and tax changes—aren't going anywhere. So, don't pop the champagne yet!
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Joe Garner
Founder & Managing Director at Joe Garner Consulting
Residential rent prices fluctuate due to supply and demand dynamics, economic conditions, location, and quality of the product in that order.

Increased demand or economic growth can drive prices up, while oversupply or economic downturns can push them down. Landlord choices and government policies have minimal impact on rental costs.

Landlords haven't been increasing rent, in fact, many discount rent for a strong long term tenant. If anything the EPC rules resulted in landlords dumping properties back onto the market.
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Lee Ashley
Managing Director at Complete Prime Residential
The rental growth in the UK is primarily driven by the under supply of rental accommodation. While delaying compliance with new EPC ratings may result in rents not rising as quickly, there will still be steady growth driven by strong competition in many rental markets across the UK.
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Graham Cox
Director at Bridging Hub
The Prime Minister positioned the scrapping of the EPC regulations as necessary to prevent tenant rents increasing further. Yet nothing could be further from the truth.

House prices have soared over the last 13 years, making them unaffordable for many, and trapping huge numbers of young people in poorly maintained rental accommodation. His and the government's silence about this has been deafening.

Rents will continue to increase whilst there's a shortage of council and housing association housebuilding. Relying on the private rented sector alone is a recipe for a disaster, as we're now seeing play out.
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Richard Campo
Founder at Rose Capital Partners
Any help aimed at the rental sector right now should be welcomed. Even if this is a double-edged sword from a climate change perspective.
That said, it is likely to have little or no impact until we address some of the core issues in the sector. The stand-out issue is the tax treatment. Holding a Buy To Let property means even if you have a modestly geared property, and are a higher rate tax payer, even if you make the cashflow work on higher interest rates, you could be landed with a tax bill at the end of the year. It's fine if you are purchasing a new property as you can do that via a Ltd Co which currently has better tax treatment, but if you have owned a property for a while you are unfairly penalized. Hence why so many people are selling investment properties as higher interest rates and higher tax combined to make BTL a bad investment. As the lack of stock dwindles, rents soar. Everyone seems to be losing due to this dynamic as part of a huge tax grab by the Govt.
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Alastair Hoyne
CEO, Finanze Capital at Finanze Capital
The EPC upgrade U-turn makes sense. Whilst embarrassing for the Government, the unworkability of the scheme was apparent from the start. The exorbitant investment needed to meet the required standards would undoubtedly have led to increased financial pressures on landlords, ultimately translating into higher rents. The claimed contribution to reducing tenants’ utility bills and wider environmental benefits was negligible, to say the least. There are better and more pressing issues to focus on in these challenging financial times. It’s time to prioritise realistic solutions that promote housing affordability, availability, and economic stability.