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Post updated: February 12th, 2025
Landlords with rental properties with poor energy efficiency ratings will need to improve their properties to a minimum Energy Performance Rating of C, under government plans.
A consultation on Energy Performance changes was launched on 7 February 2025 by Energy Secretary Ed Milliband and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner. The consultation runs until 2 May 2025.
The government said the proposals could save renters £240 a year on average on their energy bills and lift up to half a million households out of fuel poverty.
However, the improvements could cost landlords up to £15,000. And critics are saying it will result in increasing rents.
Under the plans, landlords will have the choice of how to meet energy efficiency standards, with options such as cavity wall insulation, loft insulation and double glazing, as well as options such as solar panels or low carbon heating such as heat pumps.
The proposals were widely expected as Ed Milliband had pledged to consult on the issue in his keynote speech at last year’s Labour Party conference.
The former prime minister Rishi Sunak had scrapped the plans as part of his relaxation of net zero goals.
Under the current rules, if you’re a private landlord, to let out a rental property it must have an EPC rating of at least E. This applies to all existing tenancies, not just new ones or renewals.
If your property doesn’t have a valid Energy Performance Certificate rating of ‘E’ or above, it cannot be legally let, unless you have a valid exemption in place.
However, there is a cost cap in place: under the current rules, landlords will never be required to spend more than £3,500 on energy efficiency improvements.
The new consultation proposes a cap of £15,000 per property for landlords. This is an increase from £10,000 from the previous consultation. The government says there will be support available from the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and the Warm Homes: Local Grant which will be delivered by Local Authorities later this year to low-income households in eligible postcodes.
However, it also proposes an affordability exemption, which would lower the cost cap to £10,000 for 10 years and could be applied based on areas with lower rents or lower council tax bands.
The average cost to landlords of upgrading their properties is estimated by the government to be between £6,100 and £6,800 by 2030.
These plans are likely to have a widespread impact on landlords if they go ahead; around 2.9 million privately rented homes are thought to have energy efficiency ratings below C.
The consultation acknowledges that there are a number of reasons why some households might not be able to make improvements such as issues surrounding listed buildings. As soon as a list of exemptions is confirmed, we’ll update this page.
Changes to energy performance certificates are also planned however homes that are already rated A-C under the current system will be considered compliant until they expire, the government said.
A separate consultation is running regarding changes to Energy Performance Certificates. It runs until 26 February 2026 and you can see the details on the Government’s website.
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There are lots of steps you can take to prepare for these proposed EPC changes:
Property improvements intended to boost the EPC rating are classed as ‘capital expenditure’ and not repairs and maintenance. This means they can’t be written off against profits to reduce your tax bill.
If you’re a landlord you must have at least 24 hours’ written notice of any property visits. As an EPC is a legal requirement, most tenants will happily oblige, but some may want to be present when the assessor visits.
Yes. As a tenant you are entitled to see the property’s EPC and you must be given a copy when you move in. However, you can check the property’s EPC yourself by checking the government’s EPC register in England and Wales. For properties in Scotland check the Scottish EPC register and similarly the Northern Ireland EPC register.
Once completed the EPC is valid for 10 years. However, when it expired you only need to get a new one if you’re setting up a new tenancy agreement or selling your property.
Rental properties in Scotland will need to have an EPC rating of C by the end of 2028. While in Wales, privately rented properties require an energy rating of ‘E’ or above to be let.
You may wish to hold off making any big decisions until these proposed EPC changes are definite. However if these EPC changes do go ahead it has the potential to cost some landlords a lot of money. Not only will some landlords face costly upgrades to their properties they may also require their tenants to move out for a period while the work is undertaken.
But while there’s no doubt that making these EPC changes could be expensive you could see an uplift in your property’s value if you make energy efficiency improvements. A study from Savills in 2022 found a third of buyers think EPC ratings are more important now than they were the year before.
Possibly. It seems likely that some landlords will sell up rather than pay to improve their properties.
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If your property has a high EPC rating (this varies but generally an EPC rating of A or B) you may get access to green mortgages. Some lenders will give you access to lower interest rates or cashback and bigger loans if your home meets a minimum energy-efficiency level.
While other lenders offer lower rates or cashback if you make energy-efficiency improvements or if you take out additional borrowing to pay for measures to improve your home’s energy efficiency. Find out more in our guide on Green mortgages
March 25, 2025 
