Tenant organisation criticises £15k EPC cost cap and calls for two-year rent freeze

My D rated property is valued at £90k.

If I need to spend £15k to make it to an EPC Rating C, I have two choices.

1. Spend £15k and increase rent by 17%.

2. Gain vacant possession and sell.

The tenant would prefer a lower rent and to avoid eviction.

I don’t care either way.

Nobody really cares about the EPC system. I am having all my properties assessed now, any that are D or below which will be all of them will leave me in a situation to sell them. My 2 bed terraced houses would have a market rent of £850 atm, i have tenants who are long term happy in their home paying £650, i am also happy and not chasing the top rent. So some idiot wants me to spend £150k on my 10 houses? At 59 there is no return on the investment made. The tenant will save less that £200 year in fuel cost but rent would have to increase to cover the investment. Who is dreaming this up. Why is it just landlords being affected? If this is a ‘green’ issue it should be forced on councils, housing associations and private house owners….that wouldn’t suit the agenda or be affordable would it. Stupid

Reply to the comment left by andrew sheppard at 16/04/2025 – 10:25
Andrew – personally I suspect down the line the epc rating requirements system will apply also to owner occupiers after all they currently have to get one if they sell their house. Plus I believe I did read some report that suggested they should be but about 5 years after landlords, So all those owner occupiers laughing at the landlords won’t be laughing soon enough.

Well done ACORN, with your wishlist the amount of PRS properties will probably reduce by 50%, landlords will sell in droves and invest their hard earned money elsewhere..

Thought April Fool’s Day was past and gone!
Are ACORN seriously suggesting the landlord also pays for all the re-location costs and utilities during a renovation?
They, Shelter and other tenant bodies simply don’t have a clue about being in business, which you are effectively, even with a single BTL. When is someone influential going to applaud property owners who provide accommodation? A mindset paradigm shift is urgently needed by Matthew Pennycock and the government.
Like Cider Drinker says, you could be required to spend 20% of a property’s value in some areas. A 1000 year return on investment/ROI at best!!
It’s a complete joke, especially when we are singled out like this. Abandon it, or require it of all residential dwellings at the same time, maybe in 2035 to align with new vehicle legislation changes.

The Turkeys are voting for Christmas. Don’t they follow what’s happening? Just look at some of today’s 118 headlines “PRS crisis deepens as landlords increasingly sell up” and “UK rents and house prices surge in 2025-ONS” Plus of course the regular article encouraging landlords to sell up like todays “Landlord Strategy Alert: Act Now Before Renters’ Rights Bill Transforms the PRS”
Most Houses in the UK are rated “D” these will already have insulation, double glazing, new doors ,low energy bulbs a smart meter and central heating systems with programmable thermostats”. Yet for ACORN these properties are rated as “substandard”. You do not see owner-occupiers rushing out to upgrade EPC’s, they are sensible, and can’t justify borrowing thousands of pounds to save a few hundred pounds a year.
If ACORN think finding good quality, affordable, rented property is difficult now with just the threat of the RRB, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

If a property with an EPC rating of D at 67 is “sub-standard”, how does raising the rating by 2 points suddenly make it OK? The work may have no effect on reducing heating costs or improving amenity.
The likes of ACORN are realising that if landlords are required to spend £15,000 or more to produce a saving of £15 to £20 a month, there will be a rise in rents.
They also adopt the Socialist approach that throwing someone else’s money at a problem will solve that problem. Many older houses cannot be upgraded with a tenant in situ. Forget about avoiding exams and religious holidays, it may be necessary to obtain vacant possession and to put the tenant’s furniture and belongings into storage to do work. If sub-floor and internal wall insulation is required, this will mean replacing all carpets, replacing cornices, moving light switches and electrical sockets and complete redecoration.

Tenants will have to find accommodation elsewhere for the duration (and the timescale cannot be guaranteed). ACORN do not care if it costs £50,000 to upgrade a £100,000 house. They do not care that the return on investment may be 1% (meaning the landlord will never get his money back unless he puts the rent up significantly.)
Thankfully, Pennycook and Miliband are not (yet) completely bonkers and so exemptions will be allowed. Doubtless landlords will have to spend the £15K even if it will be impossible to achieve a C rating. Rents will increase by far more than the cost saving.

And where exactly are landlords supposed to find £15k for each property ?

Reply to the comment left by Dylan Morris at 16/04/2025 – 12:03
This is one of life’s mysteries. I’m sure ACORN, SHELTER, et al can advise.

Reply to the comment left by Dylan Morris at 16/04/2025 – 12:03
Dylan of course, we can afford it! According to the promoted view in the media and accepted by the Government and just about everybody else all landlords are fat cats driving around in Rollers sitting on piles of money having grown rich renting out sub-standard properties at exorbitant rents to hapless tenants who they like to randomly select for eviction just for the fun of it.