Half of homes in England and Wales fail EPC C targets

Owner-occupied homes have worse EPC ratings than private rented homes, according to new data.

Figures from EPCGuide, which analysed 29.2 million domestic EPC certificates including private rented properties, reveal that over 16 million homes fall below the EPC C threshold.

The news comes as the government have announced all private rented properties will need to meet EPC C targets by 2030.

Half of homes would fail EPC C standard

According to the figures, 33.8% of private rented properties fail to meet EPC C standards, compared to 39.4% of owner-occupied homes. While landlords are currently required to maintain a minimum EPC rating of E, rising to C by 2030, owner-occupiers face no obligation to improve their properties.

However, the data also shows that private renters are 42% more likely to live in homes with uninsulated solid walls, affecting 36.9% of rented properties compared with 26.0% of owner-occupied homes.

The research reveals it could cost £7,000 to upgrade each property to an EPC C standard, with a total price tag of £111.7 billion for the private rented sector.

The EPCGuide research team said: “Our analysis of every EPC ever issued reveals that more than half of English and Welsh homes would fail the proposed 2030 minimum standard. The scale of this challenge has been consistently underestimated. With 16.1 million properties needing upgrades in less than five years, the UK faces one of the most ambitious retrofit programmes in its peacetime history.

“The £111.7 billion price tag represents one of the largest infrastructure challenges facing the UK, equivalent to roughly £7,000 per non-compliant property. Without coordinated government intervention, market incentives alone cannot deliver this at the speed and scale required.”

Regional variations

The data also reveals regional variations. In the Isles of Scilly, 85% of homes fall below EPC C, the worst rate of any local authority in England and Wales.

Gwynedd in north Wales records 74.3%, while Pendle and Blackpool in Lancashire register 74% and 72%, respectively.

At the other end of the scale, urban local authorities with newer housing stock perform significantly better. Tower Hamlets in east London has just 24.9% of homes below EPC C, the best rate in England and Wales, while North Northamptonshire records 35%.