Housing minister declines to clarify on landlords recouping EPC costs

In this particular case Mr Pennycock is right to say that the rent should reflect any EPC upgrades. What he is wrong about is that the Tribunal would be able to apply a correct rental valuation with the large numbers of applications that will no doubt be made. One two bedroom flat in a Borough could have a quite different rental valuation than another of roughly similar size. The effect will be to standardise rents and discourage landlords from making their rental properties better than average.

What classes as ‘Market rent’ exactly? If it is the size, condition and facilities etc of a property compared to another, what if the other similar property is in the next street – where Selective Licencing for instance does not apply?
A private rental is a certain street or postcode can be neighbouring another where there is no SL. The property in the SL zone would be (all things being equal) be more expensive than the other. It is not the LL costs that affect this, it is the location of the property and the act it is a private let. Discriminatory and localised additional costs are therefore part an part of that property being let and so any assessment has to take this into account.
Exactly the same way as EPC ratings. If the property you are renting is a higher EPC then by default it is (using the EPC blurb) cheaper for the T to run. A higher EPC rating makes that property ‘better’ in condition/presentation/and insulative property than another comparable in the street. On that basis it is worthy of commanding a higher rental charge.

As I argued with little response some time back, I think rent could be forced down below what it already was (pre-annual rent S13 application) in some cases.
We own two houses in adjacent roads where there are few rentals. The nearest two are a regulated tenancy, and the other in poor condition where the tenant says he is happy with the arrangement whereby rent is two thirds of ours, and he puts up with the poor conditions in return.
So the question remains: What are the specific factors going to be in determining “Open Market Rent”. How locally postcode wise will this be?
Where S13 annual increases do happen, when the word spreads on social media, as a tenant, would you not want to grab a further eight months of rent at the existing cost?
Remember, ridiculously, increases awarded can’t be backdated to the application date!
All the tenant will need to do is diarise it each year, and end up with a four month increase, as matters stand in the courts.

Had written the above before Reluctant LL had posted theirs, so just demonstrates that digging into the detail raises significant considerations. We’re on the same page with Market Rent definition.

Presumably it’s now in the interests of every LL to push up the rent of every rental as much as they possibly can. It sounds as though a tribunal will look at what other tenants are paying, regardless of it being a fair comparison or not, and use that to determine a fair market rate.

For some people this may mean that their rent goes up more than it otherwise would just because the LL worries about their options for raising the rent as needed in the future.

You got to love this nonsense spend 12k to improve EPC rating. I believe many could easily be over 20k plus
All to save tenant £200 to £300 a year. But rents will go up minimum £100 a month.
When energy company puts up prices by hundreds last few years . Even when their costs have gone down.
The UK contributes less than 1% to global warming
If every single that could be done solar heat pumps wind farms electric cars insulation walls floor roof etc . If every single property it will make note one bit of difference as other countries are increasingly 3% plus a year America China India etc.
The other annoying thing is only private landlords this is roughly 14% of properties. must come a C rating with the future to be a B. I bet the other 86% won’t need to in the end. It shows government is not serious in EPC ratings.

Glasgow council spent 3.2 million pounds retrofitting 8 flats just 8 flats .
They then got the building valued and I kid you not at £320 thousands only 10% of what they spent.

Pennycook couldn’t /didn’t answer the questions because he doesn’t know the answers.
If he thinks the Tribunal is going to get into the weeds to drive out the individual details of a specific property to arrive at a ‘market value’ (however that will be defined for this purpose), he is much mistaken. Tribunal will be overwhelmed, and it will be neither practical nor cost effective to dive into such details. Instead I suspect the Tribunal will adopt pretty much a geographic broad brush approach and build up a body of evidence. Will LLs be the losers? I wonder.

Over the last 10 years I’ve always increased the EPC of our houses to try to help tenants, now all but 1 is an EPC C, the last 1 will never economically make it, so I will sell it.

If the government were serious about making landlords meet EPC C criteria they should at least make it tax deductible to give landlords some incentive to improve their houses.

My D68 house has been offered many times for the tenant to buy it buy they can not get a mortgage. When EPC C is finally announced they will be told I am selling the house. It has already been mentioned but they don’t want to leave.

Can you imagine how many landlords will be selling up old houses in the N E of the UK that upgrading to an EPC C will be 10 -20% of the value of the house?

The government need to get their thinking of house values in London do not reflect the rest of the UK.

I have written to my Conservative MP but got a bull s@*t answer and they dont care.

Landlords are not running non profit organisation. If there is a cost they will have to take them out from rent. Open market rent is the value of rent if the house is marketed for new tenancy. Most of the current rents who stay in property for more than 1 year usually have 100 £ lesser rent. As landlord will always loos minimum 1200 pounds on changing tenancy. With 3 months notice this is going to be very high. There is a simple way to tackle all your problem. Subscribe to cra rent reporting services, and legally report every less payments and delayed payments. Tennants will automatically pay the right rents.Again if you got very good tenant just live a good life by being very good to them. I always get late rent, with bit arrears, but my tenants are reasonable. So I don’t mind and never chased them for rents

Reply to the comment left by Neil Robb at 25/11/2025 – 22:09
typical of the lack of acunen which defines publiv expenditure