Government should delay EPC rule deadline, Gove says
Housing Secretary Michael Gove says landlords must be given more time to achieve the minimum EPC rating.
The Government should “relax the pace” landlords are being forced to comply with EPC rules, housing secretary Michael Gove has suggested.
Gove says ministers are “asking too much too quickly” of landlords, after proposing a deadline of 2028 for new EPC regulations.
Landlords will have to ensure their rented properties achieve a minimum EPC rating of C withing five years or they could face large fines.
“I think we should relax the pace,” Gove says in an interview with the Daily Telegraph.
My own strong view is that we’re asking too much too quickly.”
He warns that there could be a backlash if the Government doesn’t take a step back on its drive to introduce energy efficient measures in housing.
Many landlords have warned that they will sell up rather than spend thousands trying to meet the EPC grade.
“My own strong view is that we’re asking too much too quickly,” Gove says.
Big outlay
“We do want to move towards greater energy efficiency, but just at this point, when landlords face so much, I think that we should relax the pace that’s been set for people in the private rented sector, particularly because many of them are currently facing a big capital outlay in order to improve that efficiency.”
There was never any hope of meeting the originally proposed deadlines.”
Ben Beadle, CEO at the NRLA, says: “It is over two years since the Government completed its consultation on energy efficiency standards in rented homes.
“As a result of the delay in responding to this, there was never any hope of meeting the originally proposed deadlines, as we told the minister earlier this month,” he says.
“The NRLA wants to see properties as energy efficient as possible, but the sector needs certainty about how and when this will happen.
He says there needs to be “a proper plan” with “a fair financial package to support improvements in the private rented sector”.
Landlords make their move ahead of EPC rules deadline
Two of our rentals are adjoining Victorian terraces with double glazing, modern gas boilers & loads of loft insulation. They are still rated D & we’re told we’ll need heat pumps or solar panels to improve it. As soon as the C rating becomes compulsory 2 more families will be begging the council for homes. Nice one Eco Loonies!
Bless Gove, he’s just realised that chasing the Net Zero Cult will sink him at the next election.
How many more times do we have to say to The Government……..’Wake up and smell the coffee!’. Do they not see the reality that his happening in The PRS? The damage has already been done and with the announcement of The Renters Reform Bill, landlords are running for the hills, despite our efforts to try and persuade them to remain in The PRS. We are a relatively small Agency in West Yorkshire – we have 12 properties listed ‘for sale’ and of those, 8 were previously rented out. If you replicate that pattern across most of the Agents in the country, then (like Rob from Aspire says), it’s a time-bomb!
Look at what happened in 2019 with The Tenant Fees Act – rents increased and so tenants paid the price as a consequence. The same is happening again, there’s fewer and fewer decent properties available, rents are soaring to unprecedented levels and scores of people are wanting to apply for the same property.
This lark is yet another reason why landlords are quitting.
it seems absolutely fine for home owners to have their EPC ratings as ‘D’ and lower – but woe betide any landlord who dares to offer – in the full knowledge of the tenant – a property with a ‘D’ rating. It will lead to fewer rental properties available at an affordable price.
Perhaps this is the Tory Time-Bomb for a Labour government – as its likely they will have to attempt to clear it all up (at which they too will fail).