A landlord has been fined £4,500 for several breaches of the EPC rating rules, it has emerged, one of the few in the UK to be given such penalties each year.

Tewkesbury Council in Gloucestershire issued several penalties against the property owner for renting out homes with an F or G grade.

£5,000 fine

Since April 2020, landlords can no longer let or continue to let properties covered by the MEES (Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard) regulations if they have an EPC rating below E.

Landlords in the UK can be fined for not having a valid EPC certificate for their property, especially when selling, renting, or transferring ownership, although fines are rare.

Nevertheless fines can be up to £5,000 for failing to provide a valid EPC, and up to £500 for not making a copy available to a tenant.

Up to standard

Alex Hegenbarth, Tewkesbury council’s Lead Member for Community and Housing, says: “We’re working with landlords within this sector to make sure that properties with a current energy rating of F or G are not rented out unless they are exempt or brought up to standard.

“Our Environmental Health Team regularly check that this requirement is being met and have recently issued several fines against one landlord totalling £4,500.”

The council says low energy efficiency properties make it harder for tenants to afford heating, and can be linked to health issues.

“This is why it’s so important to ensure that landlords in the private rented sector are taking appropriate steps to meet the government regulations.”

Best and worst

The Government has begun consulting on its plans to force landlords to upgrade their properties to a minimum EPC band C by 2030.

Last month, new research revealed more than half of homes in the UK’s largest cities had an EPC rating of D or below.

Rental firm Uncle looked at data across the 30 most populated cities to see which have the best and worst EPC ratings.

More on EPC ratings