EPC ‘to earn billions for economy’ if landlords fully retrofit properties
Eight out of 10 properties have at least one low-cost energy efficiency improvement recommendation, including energy-efficient lighting or loft insulation.
The UK economy stands to benefit by a minimum of £28 billion if privately rented properties below an energy rating of C undergo complete retrofitting with all recommended improvements, analysis of Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data by Propflo reveals.
Although the benefits come at a cost of a whopping £23 billion the decarbonisation platform says that still results in a net gain of £5 billion.
MEES
But if landlords choose to undertake only the minimum work to comply with the proposed Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES), the economic gain would be £8.7 billion against costs of £13.9 billion, translating to a net economic cost of £5.2 billion.
While a significant majority of privately rented properties below a C would need spending close to or at the £10,000 cap (over 80%), 2% of properties would only require an average expenditure of £311 to achieve compliance, while another 6.2% would require an investment of £1,514 per property.
Some eight out of 10 (81%) of properties have at least one low-cost energy efficiency improvement recommendation, including energy-efficient lighting or loft insulation (pictured) and approximately 0.2% of properties only require a single low-cost improvement to attain a grade C rating.
RELAXED
The analysis comes as the deadline for meeting new MEES regulations – expected to be announced later this year – could be relaxed.

Luke Loveridge, Propflo Founder and Chief Executive, says that the research emphasises the importance of supporting and incentivising landlords to surpass the minimum requirements to fully unlock a property’s energy efficiency potential.
And he adds: “MEES should be viewed as both an economic opportunity and a means to enhance our energy security, address fuel poverty, and meet our legally binding carbon targets. Whether the deadline is 2028 or not, the government should explore avenues to provide support to private landlords, enabling them not only to meet the minimum standards but to exceed them.”

Source: Propflo
What small landlord is going to pay £10,000+ to insulate a house, at a time of crippling interest rates, all the uncertainty of the Rental Reform Bill, and all the uncertainty over what exactly the EPC rules are going to say and whether their specification is going to fundamentally change (they measure fuel costs, not carbon or kW requirements)?
The usual feeble offer of a 20% deduction on one’s taxes is worth nothing when many landlords are making near-zero returns and even losses.
I also don’t trust these figures about what it will cost landlords to reach a C-rating, given the huge increases in construction material and labour costs, and when big jobs like external wall insulation face an acute shortage of registered installers and energy assessors. Most builders are still clueless about cold bridging and how to properly insulate a solid-wall house, never mind effectively install an air-source heat pump.
The more likely scenario is that landlords holding old properties will simply sell up, and make zero-carbon an owner-occupier’s problem.
Especially if the Landlord don’t want the house anyway & only keeping it for tenant as many of us are. And charging 70% of market rent to keep long term tenant happy. What does Govt think is going to happen with the rent?