Landlords lose confidence in the EPC system as many plan to sell

While trying to get all of my properties to an EPC C over the last year or 2, anytime I’ve mentioned EPC to a tenant, they had no idea what I was talking about and didn’t care what EPC rating their house had, they were just happy to have a house with reasonably low rent. Most are a C but 1 is still a high D

When the government bring this in they are going to make a lot of people homeless.

They obviously dont care about PRS tenants,

The 1 house that I have that is still a EPC D will be sold and the tenant already knows it.

She will be paying an extra £300 a month in rent to find a similar house if there are any available.

I think that like Mick Roberts says, I’m now only hanging on to the houses for the tenants.

When they leave, I’m selling the houses. Ill eitherinvest the money overseas or spend it all before I die and leave as little as possible for the government to tax.

I know some properties are rated C but similar properties, with the same attributes (and in some cases, better attributes) are rated D or E. It seems it helps to have a friendly EPC assessor in your armoury or lodge.

That aside, the tax system could be used to encourage warmer homes. Reduce the tax rate for landlords with properties that are rated A or B; increase it for properties rated D or E and increase it again for properties rated F and G.

As a basic rate taxpayer, faced with a tax rate choice of 15%, 20%, 25% or 30%, I’d focus a bit more on increasing the rating. I won’t be so enthusiastic about spending £15k in order to save the tenant £250 per year.

I’ve got a pair of flats in Seaham, Co Durham – both one-bedders and rated D & E. They cost £51k for the pair a few year ago, both tenants have been there many years and are happy.

To get them to a C will cost over £10k per flat (on top of the spend I’ve already incurred – eg new boilers). No way is that a justifiable capital investment, I’d be losing a lot of money. So I’ll have to sell them and evict both the happy tenants – they’ll have to move to other flats, probably having to be housed by the Council.

No landlord will buy the flats so they’ll be lost to the PRS. £10k improvements are fine in a London flat worth £500k (2%) – but on mine the investment would be 40%.

So we have unhappy evicted tenants, problem shifted to the council, PRS properties lost. And an unhappy landlord (the least of these issues tbf).

How does all this help anyone??

Reply to the comment left by Neil P at 23/09/2025 – 11:23
Trouble is, we all go to the election booth to elect the people who govern us. Blue or red, it makes no difference. They are all pygmies.

From my research it may be possible to avoid having EPC C.
If tenants draft a letter to the council stating they do not wish for the EPC upgrades because let’s say of the upheaval and inconvenience then it becomes unnecessary for 5 years. After this or with a new tenant this would have to be repeated.
In my cases I ve included heating in the rental package and sometimes all bills so my tenants have nothing to loose or gain but their homes.

At some point, the EPC process will have to start taking into consideration the whole ‘carbon neutral’ aspect. It seems daft to me that 2 identical flats, one with Gas and the other all Electric can give a higher EPC to the Gas flat, based I am told on the cost of the energy.

Then there’s the little matter of same flat different assessors equals different EPC band.

Not forgetting that if your given say 4 suggested actions to improve your EPC, you must do them in the order listed by the Assessor. This is regardless of their effectiveness or cost. Had a studio flat that was 2 points below band C, 5 years ago, 2 suggested actions, install floor insulation, (solid concreate floors) and install inline water heater and remove the emersion and tank. Either would have moved the EPC to the next band up. One was some £3000, the other £150, ( I can play plumber). But the order they were given meant the floor first.

Come the 5 year re-assess, I switched assessor and without any work got Band C for the next 10 years.

I think this property being a D says it all about how inaccurately varied EPCs are.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/164469149#/?channel=RES_BUY

Anybody who needs a new EPC will be shocked at the new rules. I have cavity wall insulation approx twelve years ago but have no paperwork anymore and the EPC assessor could only find proof if he drilled into the walls. Even thought I had double glazing in every window and door in the house it was rated poor because it was old. This meant that my house was rated E the lowest on the street.
Trump might not get many things correct but all these green dictates are the biggest waste of money ever .
My tenant has been in my property for 15 years paying a reasonable rent very happily will now have to move.
I am unable to print his reaction to the ridiculous EPC ratings.

I lined all the external walls with a plasterboard and jablite sandwich years ago, when it was empty. The mould due to condensation was horrendous, due to low ventilation by tenants.
It has just been sold, 14 years later, and there has been no mould in all that time, but when i got an epc done, he said, he wasnt allowed to take it into consideration, and gave me a d. Other flats in the same block have all been given a c. Mine was lower because its on one end. And then he advised cavity insulation to get a c, but its not possible on flats. Its a bloody farce.

An absolute farce. The EPC system has just changed so decided to review ten properties. Every one of them dropped. One property was 1 point away from C now 9 points. Getting it up to C is £10k plus, on a rent of £650 per month. Served section 21 to the tenant of 9 years.