The considerable challenge for home owners and landlords to upgrade the UK’s housing stock has been laid bare by new EPC research by Rightmove.

It has estimated using its own database that over half or some 18 million homes in the UK have an EPC rating of D or below. It has also quizzed 14,000 people about their homes and attitudes to energy efficiency.

This found that the most common reason why people want to improve a property’s energy efficiency is not to save the planet but cut their energy bills.

Rightmove’s Energy Bills Tracker reveals the costs of running a three-bedroom house with an F rating are nearly three times more than the same property with a C rating.

The portal is therefore urging Labour, which is currently the most likely party to be the next government, to prioritise making green home incentives widely available and to help improve the millions of homes that need it.

The research also reveals that an overwhelming number of renters (87%) and home-owners (83%) think action needs to be taken to help make green improvements to homes.

Rightmove property expert Tim Bannister says: “While it’s a start to see some green support proposed in the party manifestos, there’s a big job to be done to address the widescale issue that at least 18 million UK homes need to be improved.

“Many home-owners and landlords need urgent access to schemes that enable them to make these improvements, which could help with huge savings on energy bills.

“Each home requires different improvements, and the upfront costs are a huge barrier to change. Without more help, many home-owners and tenants will continue to live in high-carbon emitting homes with high energy costs.”

In September last year PM Rishi Sunak announced he was scrapping the looming requirement for all rented properties to have an EPC rating of C or above by 2025, and a requirement for gas boilers to be phased out in all properties by 2035.

Average energy bills for a three-bedroom house