Landlords! Thoughs on EPC targets?

Another ill-thought through Government policy continuing the onslaught of attack and misery on landlords that will have unintended consquences at the expense of tenants. The costs to implement such changes could be significant for landlords with little to no return personally. Are there also enough suitably qualified trades to install any upgrades? This is just going to further push landlords away from the beleaguerd private rental sector by them selling up and exiting and then further detrimentally impacting supply and demand. This will exacerbate the housing crisis further, increase the housing costs burden on struggling local councils and more importantly push rents up further for some of the most vulnerable in society. A complete and utter shambles.

If tenants and landlords didn’t have enough to contend with, this will scare the life out of them. Great news if you have modern energy-efficient homes already. But anyone living in a less than perfect rental is likely to see either an eviction notice or an increase in rental payments to help pay for any improvements. Of course, tenants deserve the right of a home with comfort and energy efficiency, if that’s what they want and are prepared to pay for it, as ultimately these costs will land on their purses. But what if the tenant is in something perhaps older, more ragged around the edges, that they really enjoy living in. If tenants are no longer allowed to choose to live in this type of character home, how is that right, cutting out swathes of good housing, forcing tenants to chase a smaller pool of property, with an obviously increasing rental value.

Cue more rental rises and or even more landlords selling up causing even less rental properties available and higher rents. In areas like Middlesbrough houses have increased from £550 five years ago are now £800 and rising. What support is the government offering for landlords to manage this change? And to stop more pressure being placed on tenants? Yes it’s great to make a positive change for household bills for tenants but how do we ensure a balance?

This is a hidden Plan B. Instead of building hundreds of thousands of houses they’ll force landlords into selling existing stock. I bet many landlords live in properties with a sub-C EPC rating, yet they’re forced to improve their rental property. Landlords aren’t just rich people trying to fleece the poor, as they are often portrayed. The majority of landlords won’t have a pool of money they can just dip into, so these targets will give many little choice but to sell up. It will leave a void in the rental space and ultimately drive rents up further for tenants.