Landlords ‘face huge bill’ to meet EPC target claim agency
Research by Knight Frank estimates it will cost landlords in England nearly £18 billion to ensure their properties reach a C rating.
Landlords are facing an enormous bill to meet the Government’s deadline to achieve its EPC target.
The total cost for landlords in England will be £17.9 billion, according to researchers at Knight Frank.
The proposed deadline for new lettings to have a minimum C rating is now 2028, instead of 2025, and this date will apply to all lettings, according to a recent report in the Daily Telegraph.
Knight Frank’s latest data is based on a maximum spend of £10,000 for each property, which the Government has indicated.
Landlords in London faced the highest costs at £3.2 billion, as a fifth of the total lettings are in the capital.
Calculations by Knight Frank on energy cost savings suggest moving from a D to a C rated property could save nearly £400 per year at current costs, climbing to just under £1,000 for those jumping two bands from E to C.
Race against time
Other research, by the Mortgage Advice Bureau, reveals that nearly half (47%) of landlords incorrectly thought that EPC rating rules were just guidance.
Only a third (34%) of landlords had received advice from the Government about what changes needed to be made.
Landlords were clearly in the dark about the changes that they needed to make.”
Ben Thompson, deputy CEO of Mortgage Advice Bureau, says: “Landlords were facing a race against time to retrofit their properties and meet incoming EPC legislation.
“As well as cost of living pressures and higher interest rates working against landlords meeting the initial 2025 deadline, they were also clearly in the dark about the changes that they needed to make.”
‘Landlords will still leave PRS even if EPC deadline changes’
£18 billion does not scratch the surface of this issue which successive PMs and Housing Ministers seem to choose to ignore. Spending £10k will not bring a huge number of properties anywhere near a C rating so landlords have two choices. They can sell, which many will do, or apply for an exemption which means the EPC edict has failed. Rents are going to continue to rise as stock falls that is inevitable. This whole issue is a mess and if you work in a rural area with no gas, old stone buildings, solid floors etc then it becomes obvious that to achieve a C rating on some properties it will take £30/40k. The Tories appear clueless on this issue but Labour seem even worse it is very worrying.