MPs claim EPC upgrades are no excuse for landlords to hike rents

Reply to the comment left by John Hudson at 29/07/2025 – 13:33
Effectively they are unless for example somebody else commits to paying the higher rent on behalf of the tenant (via increased housing benefit for example) or effectively insures the landlord on behalf of the tenant.

At the moment for example neither my mortgage provider nor my insurer will let me house asylum seekers or rent to a housing association. But if a body such as Serco came along and indemnified me against the risk by committing to pay me and insure me then I would have an open mind about it.

If that doesn’t happen then of course the only practical option is (a) and the real world effect of son-of-renters-rights-bill (a.k.a. the Renters Reform Bill) is that it will drive rents up higher than it would otherwise have been and make the higher risk tenants unhouseable.

According to the government’s own survey some landlords regard tenants with pets as high risk and they won’t take them (voluntarily). My own experience is that tenants with children do more damage than tenants with pets. So I would consider these people to be higher risk.

Reply to the comment left by Reluctant Landlord at 29/07/2025 – 13:02
“Advertise a let as rent between a range £X – to £X, to be confirmed only once a full assessment has been made specific to the applicant.”

If you do that you may be fined up to £7000 and end up on the rogue landlord’s register.

Clause 56 of the Renters Rights Bill says:

“A relevant person [i.e. landlord or agent] must not advertise in writing, or otherwise offer in writing, the proposed letting unless—
(a) the rent that is to be payable under the letting is a specific amount (the “proposed rent”), and
(b) the advertisement or offer states the proposed rent.”

Reply to the comment left by Ian Narbeth at 29/07/2025 – 16:02
And so if this proposal goes through then ‘advertising’ in many cases won’t be in writing (e.g. showing tenants around to generate interest will have no ‘written’ component) and if any property IS advertised in writing at all it will only be at the highest possible rent. Most competent agents already know this and some have advised that this will be the effect of stopping a landlord from taking an offer that is higher than the advertised rent.

This will have the effect of driving up market rents because market rents will be calculated on the basis of rents advertised or offered IN WRITING.

As for the rights and wrongs of it, the Scottish system for buying houses is a sealed-bids system, which in some ways is fairer than a system that allows gazumping.

Proposals like the one in Clause 56 are the kind of left-wing, ivory-tower b******t that people who don’t understand markets or believe in them come up with.

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 29/07/2025 – 16:37
Beaver, you won’t be able to advertise “in writing” without stating a specific rent.

I agree that high rents will be proposed. It may be that prospective tenants are told: “Offers below this figure may be considered.”

I agree with you that this will drive rents higher. My earlier post was to warn against advertising a range of rents.

Reply to the comment left by Ian Narbeth at 29/07/2025 – 16:50
You were right to warn against it.

My standing instructions to my agent when getting the property ready for rent are going to be “…you can show people around if you want, but only if you don’t tell them what the rent is in any form of writing…”

Given that the agent has loads of people looking, especially if they are families with children, then the people who show up are going to be the people who are the most keen. And this will allow me to:

– take the family with children who have the highest disposable income and can afford the maximised rent that I never used to ask for before, or

– take the lower risk retired couple with a high income who don’t have children and can afford the empty bedrooms because the cost and risk of renting to these people will be lower than renting to the family with children, who have always increased my costs more than families with pets.

This is not of course what I used to do, or what my agent used to advise. My agent used to advise (less than ten years ago) that I hold the rent down a bit to reduce the risk of void periods. But that advice has changed radically now that the rent-control-spectre looms.

Clause 56 is a bit of a give-away isn’t it? it’s one of those ivory-tower-idiot clauses that tells you that the people formulating the policy were short of the full shilling. The kind of stuff designed to appeal to the people voting for Jeremy Corbyn’s new party.

I did wonder what they were going to call a party designed to appeal to the disenfranchised and disenchanted, including all those new left-wing nationalists in Scotland. I settled on:

Workers, Anarchists, Neo-national-socialists, Communists And Socialists.

I think that the URL may be available.

But the moderate people in the world who don’t vote for the above collection of fantasists and extremists need to understand that people like me used to hold rents down, our agents used to advise us to do it, and that was good for tenants in the world beyond the Jeremy Corby ivory tower.

Reply to the comment left by Reluctant Landlord at 29/07/2025 – 12:57
Even if a tenant signs to say they don’t want the EPC upgrades the problem is BTL mortgage lenders won’t lend on properties below a C, I’ve heard some lenders already pulling 5 year deals for properties below a C

MPs can claim whatever they want. The reality is landlords are suffering with cost and risk. Most of them are stuck with properties with near 0 profit. House prices in rental sector ia in very negative due to 5% surcharge. Landlord needs least 5 year to recover stamp duty alone in current trend.

Reply to the comment left by Ian Narbeth at 29/07/2025 – 16:02
all you then do is ensure any figure is the higher value if put in writing.

Nothing stopping you advertising a property without listing a rent at all then – by simply stating the applicant should call for further clarity? As long as nothing is in writing?

Or if you do advertise, state rent is at ‘market rate’. Again this does not formalise a figure in writing and so the applicant has to call to find out. ???

Reply to the comment left by Stech Te at 30/07/2025 – 04:18
not actually worth buying anything wit a plan to let, due to the ridiculous SDLT charge alone!

Well 3 of mine will be going if there are no big subsidies. Not spending up to £15k on a £110k property.
One of the EPCs says install underfloor insulation between £4k and £6k to save £185 a year.
Anyway rents go up to cover the costs. At least by 30% . Or sell the property. And probably the latter.