New funding for EPC improvements – but it’s not enough for landlords

New funding for EPC improvements – but it’s not enough for landlords

9:58 AM, 1st October 2024, About A week ago 19

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A new funding pot has been announced by the government to support energy efficiency improvements in England, but many landlords may still be left out in the cold, the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) warns.

The ‘Warm Homes: Local Grant’ scheme will provide grants of up to £30,000 for landlords to improve their first rental property and up to £15,000 for additional properties.

However, the funding is capped at a maximum of £15,000 per home for energy performance upgrades and £15,000 for low carbon heating.

Only landlords with properties in eligible postcodes, whose tenants are benefit claimants or low-income households, will be eligible for the grants.

The NRLA has welcomed the move but would like to see support available for those landlords who do not fall within the remit of the scheme.

Scheme excludes many landlords

The NRLA has welcomed the move but criticised the scheme for excluding many landlords.

Meera Chindooroy, the NRLA’s deputy director for campaigns, said: “The nature of the scheme means that huge swathes of landlords across the country will be, quite literally, left out in the cold.

“It’s also unclear if there will be enough to pay for improvements across the areas already selected to benefit.

“The PRS has some of the oldest, and hardest to improve, properties within the UK housing stock and what we would like to see is a comprehensive package of financial support available to landlords across the board.”

Money distributed by local authorities

To qualify for government grants, properties must have an EPC rating between D and G and the grants will be distributed by eligible local authorities.

Energy Security Minister Ed Miliband has announced plans to increase the minimum energy efficiency standard for rental properties to a C rating by 2030.

To be eligible for the grants, households must meet one of the following criteria:

  • Eligible postcodes: Based on deprivation factors.
  • Benefit claimants: Tenants receiving benefits such as Universal Credit or housing benefit
  • Low-income households: Gross income below £36,000 per year.

Councils will verify that grant applicants meet these requirements.

Landlords seeking Warm Home grants

For landlords seeking Warm Homes: Local Grants, the NRLA says they must:

  • Share their details: Provide permission for their information to be stored on a central database
  • Participate in surveys: Agree to support evaluations of the grant programme
  • Adhere to funding limits: Ensure that total grant funding received does not exceed £315,000.

Eligible local authorities can apply for funding starting in October.

There is no limit on the number of properties a landlord can claim for, but the maximum grant amount per Landlord remains £315,000, including any previous grants received.

More information is available from the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero which has published guidance and a list of eligible postcodes.


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Jason

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9:49 AM, 1st October 2024, About A week ago

Am I missing something, how is this any different from the current ECO4 Grant?

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/faqs-domestic-consumers-and-landlords

GlanACC

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10:46 AM, 1st October 2024, About A week ago

Reply to the comment left by Jason at 01/10/2024 - 09:49
I had 2 all electric properties upgraded on EC04 grant, still didn't bring them up to a c, now a D (all electric properties).

K Anon

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11:16 AM, 1st October 2024, About A week ago

C is a bit of a high bar. Our flat only has 50mm cavity so wall insulation is a no no.
Took the storage heaters out as they eat so much electric and replaced with eco friendly WiFi heaters, tenants love them but they kill your epc.
External cladding.. hmm, not a great sell.
D, yes could get to that but C with no storage heaters or cavity insulation, tricky.

The Forever Tenant

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11:19 AM, 1st October 2024, About A week ago

Looking at the two services, it would appear the new scheme is a lot wider ranging on not only the properties that this would apply to, but also the items that you are able to have installed.

There also seems to be some relaxations on the requirements to be eligible. I don't think the home I live in right now would be eligible under EC04, but this new scheme suggests it may be.

I will be interested to find out more but I assume that we will be given further information prior to April 2025.

Keith Wellburn

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11:20 AM, 1st October 2024, About A week ago

Reply to the comment left by Jason at 01/10/2024 - 09:49
The postcodes for eligibility seem very limited, deciles 1 and 2 on a depravation index. Thought my one remaining property would be in there (it’s a three bed Victorian terraced worth under £100k) but whist similar nearby nearby streets show up as in decile 1 (and would be eligible) my property is in decile 3 (and would not).

I owned ten houses at one time around this town and find this micro classification hard to reconcile with my knowledge - if I’ve understood the criteria correctly it’s going to cause some consternation.

christine walker

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11:27 AM, 1st October 2024, About A week ago

How do I find out if my postcodes are eligible?

Keith Wellburn

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11:37 AM, 1st October 2024, About A week ago

Reply to the comment left by christine walker at 01/10/2024 - 11:27
‘CDRC Index of Multiple Deprivation’ is what I came across on Google. Input postcode and it puts the street into a colour coded band 1 to 10. (Most to least deprived).

It seems that a property could still be eligible on occupants’ Benefits and or income criteria if it doesn’t fall into the two lower bands on the IMD scale.

LaLo

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11:56 AM, 1st October 2024, About A week ago

I’m must have read it wrong. The beginning of the article states £15k max per property but the last paragraph states £315k per property??

Keith Wellburn

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12:00 PM, 1st October 2024, About A week ago

Reply to the comment left by LaLo at 01/10/2024 - 11:56
I took it as up to £30k for the first property, £15k for subsequent and the £315k is an overall cap (1 @ £30k and 19 @ £15k).

Jason

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13:30 PM, 1st October 2024, About A week ago

We did an ECO4 property it was already a C but the coordinator was adamant because it was on oil and tenant qualified so did the “grant”. Fitted solar panels and ASHP retrofit only upgrading some radiators after heat survey. Only took two days for the install so minimal disruption if any. Been over a year since fitted. Not paid a penny; value added. EPC was never re-done. Go figure….(Did I get lucky) 🍀?

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