Landlords face financial barriers to EPC upgrades

Three biggest hurdle for me is lack of guidance/advice required to increase the EPC to C from D category flat on second floor & part of an estate. Another problem is the forthcoming method of assessing the EPC rating.

Combined with barbarous RRA , database, huge fines for small mistakes, treating landlords as if they have committed a crime by being a landlord. It is a reason for the exodus of LLs from PRS

The EPC score doesn’t determine energy cost, tenant behaviour does.

I have 2 identical houses in the same street. Both started life as EPC C. Both had solar panels installed about 13 years ago and are now EPC B88 and B89. Both have gas central heating and solar diverters to heat some of the hot water.
One of them uses 426kWh electric per year and 12622 kWh gas. The other uses 2579kWh electric and 13784kWh gas.
The difference is tenant profile. The lower usage household is a family of 5 who pay their own utility bills. Someone is more likely to be at home to make use of the generated solar and they have almost certainly more thoroughly engaged with the solar diverter for their hot water.
The other household are 4 adult professionals who are out at work all day and not inclined to set time delays on their washing machine to best utilize the solar. Why would they care, bills are included in the rent?
In monetary terms at the cheapest 24 month fix currently available with Eon Next thats £1451 or £2073 per year. A difference of £622 purely attributable to occupier behaviour.

Two of my properties (without solar) with the lowest energy costs are both EPC D. While one household may be fans of woolly jumpers, the other certainly isn’t.

Landlords face financial barriers…next!

EPC targets least of my concerns.

Reply to the comment left by SGhai at 06/10/2026 – 15:13
Are you part of the ‘Exodus’ or are you hanging on to see how things turn out? I have met very few people taking the ‘Exodus’ route.

Reply to the comment left by Candyman1980 at 06/10/2026 – 20:39
PART OF THE EXODUS. Waiting for a buyer

The lack of practical advice for the simpler, less costly measures is absolutely disgraceful.

My last house, a solid wall Victorian mid-terraced (and I have had plenty of practical experience with all my previous 13 being Victorian terraced too) was sitting in the top number in band D.

The EPC had the usual list starting with big ticket improvements – solid wall insulation, solar PV etc (with the usual ridiculous payback times).

This house whilst having a good gas CH system also had a wall mounted gas fire in one sitting room. This failed its gas safety and as there was a good sized radiator in the room I decided the time had come to get rid of it, which the tenant was happy with.

I contacted the assessor who did the EPC as I suspected that having this fire might be a negative for efficiency. He confirmed this and I had another EPC inspection after removal of the fire – the property had now gained a C.

They simply don’t want you to do the practical cheap things that will help YOU.

(Another thing I looked into out of interest as I saw it being mentioned on some other property’s EPCs in the street that weren’t too good and I suspected was a negative was the mention of “with bypass” on the central heating controls which were otherwise good. When this is mentioned it means there is a permanently opened bypass such as an always on bathroom radiator or an open bridge between boiler flow and return.

I’m not a CH engineer but presumably getting one in for a couple of hours to fit an ABV (automatic bypass valve) and put a TRV on the previously always on rad would up the system efficiency – possibly getting a much needed extra point nearer a C rating).

By any measure of logic or intelligence doing these relatively cheap improvements should be listed before (or at least alongside) the expensive ones (On the latest EPC solar PV was costed as up to £10,000 with an annual saving of £205 – twice the life of the panels. If I’d wanted a laugh I’d buy a copy of the Beano..).

Reply to the comment left by Keith Wellburn at 07/10/2026 – 10:07
Interesting reading: Solid wall insulation-How was that achieved( outside or inside or anything else was done)?

Reply to the comment left by SGhai at 07/10/2026 – 11:00
No solid wall insulation was fitted, theyre just as built regarding that. There’s 250mm loft insulation and circa 20 year old double glazing.

I had a few other similar Victorian terraceds that were in C. None of them had any solid wall insulation, although they had small later ground floor bathroom extensions with cavity walls which may have helped the score (but no insulation in the cavity).

How much is variance in individual assessors is hard to say as there were a few different ones.

(I would suggest looking at all the EPCs in the street and seeing if there is a pattern of one in the locality giving bettter ratings without obvious reasons. I have generally gone with who the letting agent is using at a particular time but there was one street where a particular name stood out with C ratings without solid wall, Pv etc.

I am lost as what to do to increase a second floor ( top floor of the block) flat From D to C . or Do the flats have no remedy to improve the EPC ( apart from the usual things )?
I am stuck. Do not know who to turn to.

Reply to the comment left by Keith Wellburn at 07/10/2026 – 10:07
“When this is mentioned it means there is a permanently opened bypass such as an always on bathroom radiator or an open bridge between boiler flow and return.” – Well, it’s actually assumed, because you don’t have the complete set of three standard controls of: Room Thermostat, Programmer and TRVs (on at least 50% of the rads).