Higher EPC exemption cost cap could push landlords out of the market – warns industry body

I have a 3 bed property with annual rent of £5k. Even if I charge market rate, it would only be £7k.
According to a 2016 EPC Report, it would cost me £9k to hopefully scrape a C Rating. The tenant would save £256 per year. With inflation, the cost would be over £12,000 and the savings would be greater.
Rent would increase by between £100 and £150 per month.
It’s not happening. This is the next property planned for sale.
The cost cap should be based on the annual LHA rate for the property. In my case, this would be £6,900.

I’ve got a pair of 1-bed flats in Seaham, County Durham – cost me £51k a couple of years ago – when the EPC targets looked to have gone away. The certificates say they can only get to a D. How will that work?

Rent is so low I can’t justify spending too much on them, even if I could reach a C…so the only option appears to be give the happy, long-standing tenants (> 10 years) notice to quit…and sell them. Where will they go? No idea, thankfully not my problem (unless they won’t/can’t leave and I have to evict them through the courts)…and I’d feel terrible evicting them.

Crazy situation, lose/lose in this case. And in many others I imagine.

Reply to the comment left by Neil P at 27/05/2025 – 10:26
Neil

Yes it is crazy but we should expect nothing less from the Loony Left.

The answer is that your rental properties will probably be sold to first time buyers who will not need to improve the EPC Rating. This will do nothing for Net Zero.

Maybe Serco will be allowed to lease them from you and seek an exemption from the EPC requirement. They have a better chance of gaining an exemption than either you or I.

On the other hand, it’s likely that your properties could reach a C Rating or better despite the assessment stating otherwise. Might cost £15k.

This is crazy and I’m pretty sure that the way landlords are being treated breaks the equalities act.

Where do government bodies get the figures from of all that money that landlords just have lying around. I can’t afford £5k if it was the TOTAL cost for all my properties. So I’m going to have to remortgage the one property with equity to get it to EPC C, then wait until I have equity in others or max out my credit cards or sell – and all those voids do not make any sort of good business sense.

Then I’ll have to put the rent up on all my properties to pay the extra debt, ….poor tenants. The tenant will have extra rent to pay but will not have cheaper bills because they’ll get condensation so they will keep the heating on more. Which we all know won’t help.

Condensation from the measures to make an older property into an airtight facsimile of a new one, without understanding how the older houses need to breathe.

At what point do the government acknowledge that being a landlord isn’t about being an invester with loads of money, and recognise that for the vast majority of landlords its about making a living wage or pension.

When will the government start to treat landlords with equality, in other words in parity with every other uk business.

The Equality Act 2010 includes a public sector Equality Duty that requires that public bodies have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and
advance equality of opportunity.

How do we encourage government to actively eliminate the discrimination against landlords created by Section 24 that means they cannot offset their asset costs against their revenue. Hire car firms have a similar business model to landlords yet no-one has said their finance costs are not allowed.

They same can be asked of EPC C where social housing and residential owners are not required to make the same highly necessary eco ‘improvements’ out of their pocket on an arbitary timetable.

I’d support someone who knew how to fight the inequality that I and others can clearly see.

We are selling. The blokes an idiot ( you know who I mean) . No idea in my opinion.

Reply to the comment left by Carol Wilson at 27/05/2025 – 12:21
Landlords are not a distinct group in terms of Labour’s 2010 Equality legislation (unlike LGBTQ etc or Travellers) so the Government can do what it wants if it passes the legislation regardless of any harmful outcomes!

I will have sold up everything by then.. those that think most landlords can afford the improvements, due to being mortgage free, are delusional!!

The Government have screwed us into the ground, well done, let’s hope you can provide accommodation for the vast number of people looking to rent, who are predominantly foreign nationals now!!