Gove calls for EPC upgrade delay for landlords

The Housing Secretary Michael Gove says the Government is ‘asking too much too quickly’ of landlords to comply with EPC measures by a proposed date of 2028, he told the Daily Telegraph.

Pointing to protests in Holland over tighter emissions regulations, Mr Gove says the ‘inflexible’ application of rules to reduce pollution will lead ‘to a backlash’.

And he says that the financial pressures facing landlords to upgrade properties to meet an EPC rating of C in the next few years mean ‘we should relax the pace’.

‘We’re asking too much too quickly’

In the interview, he said: “My own strong view is that we’re asking too much too quickly.

“We do want to move towards greater energy efficiency, but just at this point, when landlords face so much, I think that we should relax the pace that’s been set for people in the private rented sector, particularly because many of them are currently facing a big capital outlay in order to improve that efficiency.”

The move follows the drubbing last week of the Conservatives in two by-elections – and a close call in Boris Johnson’s former seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

And former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith also says a rethink of net zero ambitions need rethinking.

Confirm a deadline for EPC upgrades

In response, the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) says the Government needs to confirm a deadline for EPC upgrades so landlords can prepare and budget for the work.

The NRLA’s chief executive, Ben Beadle, said: “It is over two years since the Government completed its consultation on energy efficiency standards in rented homes.

“As a result of the delay in responding to this, there was never any hope of meeting the originally proposed deadlines, as we told the Minister earlier this month.”

He added: “The NRLA wants to see properties as energy efficient as possible, but the sector needs certainty about how and when this will happen.

“Ministers need to develop a proper plan that includes a fair financial package to support improvements in the private rented sector.

“We will continue to work with all parties to develop pragmatic and workable proposals.”