Big proptechs says new EPC target will prompt landlord exodus
Reapit and Payprop's joint report based on their own data claims some 17% of all landlords with badly insulated homes will quit rather than spend thousands on upgrades.
Two of the industry’s biggest proptech firms has made an unusual foray into housing policy and warned that Labour’s plans to bring all rented properties to a minimum EPC band C by 2030 will see 880,000 properties disappear from the market.
They have also warned that letting agencies would therefore lose some £229 million a year in management and let-only fees.
Reapit and PayProp made these predictions within their new report on how the revived EPC target from Labour, which was launched and then ditched by the Tories, will impact agents, landlords and tenants.
The platforms reviewed a representative sample of rental properties managed using its service to estimate how many properties currently fall below EPC band ‘C’.
This found that 2.7 million rental properties across Great Britain will need to be retrofitted with some form of energy efficiency measure, to hit new government EPC C targets by 2030.
17% of landlords
But Reapit is worried that many landlords with properties featuring E, F and G rated EPCs will sell up rather than spend on some £10,000 to £14,000 to upgrade their stock, which the report reveals would be 17% of all landlords. It wants ‘clarity’ from Government on what help landlords will be given.
“Our report reveals the sheer scale of the work ahead. While we all recognise the need to address the greenhouse gas emissions from housing in the UK, this cannot come at the cost of people’s homes,” said Steve Richmond (main image), General Manager UK&I at Reapit.
“Bringing forward proposals that require such a high spend without outlining the support measures on offer to achieve these ambitious targets risks spooking landlords, so urgent clarity is needed.
“The last thing tenants need is more landlords selling up. Not only will it push up rental prices, but tenants will face the stress and upheaval of moving.”
The ideology car crash smashing into the reality wall.
Import hundreds of thousands of new people to the UK every year. Fail to build the infrastructure to cope.
Demonise the private rental sector.
Anyone see a problem?
No problem Angela has it all sorted they will relax the rules on HMOs so we can all live four to a room which will also cut heating costs.
To be serious this week in three days we have had a stream of desperate people in the office looking for rental properties that are just not there. These range from families to relationship splits to a doctor trying to move to the local hospital. It is almost impossible to move round here already if 17% more landlords sell and I suspect we will be above that as we have a high proportion of old stone rural buildings which the current EPC gives flawed results for then it is going to a major crisis.