Increasing numbers of lenders are now offering incentives to win the business of landlords with good, or improving, EPC ratings.

In what it calls “a landmark move for landlords” Skipton is partnering with a company  to offer landlords who hold just one Skipton mortgage account, a free Energy Performance Certificate Plus report for up to 10 properties they own.  

It claims the free EPC Plus will help landlords to prepare for the new regulations which come into effect in 2025 and save them hundreds of pounds.  

It says the EPC Plus is the first of its kind, providing landlords with a bespoke guide to achieve their properties future potential EPC rating and details the financial saving on tenant’s energy bills 

This is part of an £11m investment programme in green products by Skipton, which is the UK’s fourth largest building society and the parent organisation to the UK’s largest estate agency, Connells. 

The EPC Plus goes one step further than a traditional EPC report, providing not only with the current energy efficiency rating of the property but what the home’s potential EPC rating could be too. It includes a bespoke guide on how the landlord can achieve it, how much it could reduce their tenant’s energy bills by, and signposts to sources of funding potentially available. It also estimates the tonnes of carbon produced by the household.  

For properties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Skipton can also help landlords find out if they are eligible for any exemptions under the Minimum Energy Efficiency Regulations and how to enter this on the Private Rented Sector Exemptions Register.   

Kris Brewster, interim chief commercial officer at Skipton, says: ” Home energy efficiency is a huge societal challenge where everyone needs to play their part. It is only right that the business community steps up to the mark, and as a customer-owned organisation we’re reinvesting some of our profits to help landlords save money and improve the energy efficiency of their properties.  

“We understand that making any upgrades to the home can be a significant financial undertaking. To have a healthy housing market, we need to support every rung on the property ladder, and that includes people living in rental properties. Landlords play an integral part of housing provision but equally face massive challenges in greening their homes.” 

Meanwhile specialist lender OSB Group is today announcing a package of targeted measures to support buy-to-let landlords seeking to improve the sustainability of their investment properties.

The Landlord Leaders report, commissioned by the intermediary-only lender – which comprises Precise Mortgages, Kent Reliance for Intermediaries and InterBay – revealed that 44 per cent of brokers believe the biggest challenge facing their landlord clients today is complying with new environmental requirements, while landlords themselves cited this as their second biggest concern, after tenant affordability due to the rising cost of living.

The research found that professional landlords, who derive their main income from lettings, were more likely to already be upgrading their property portfolios to make them more environmentally-friendly, and are far more positive about the future of the buy-to-let sector than their part-time counterparts. It also discovered that both brokers and landlords were looking to lenders to offer more than the green financing currently on the market to fund property improvements.

In light of the findings, OSB Group is launching the following package of measures to support landlords in their pursuit of creating more socially-focused and environmentally-friendly rental housing:

– A new Landlord Leader Fund to support OSB Group’s existing landlords in transitioning their properties to an EPC rating of C or above in 2023. The fund makes an initial £50 million of ear-marked lending available at subsidised mortgage rates, covering both new loans with refurbishment needs and standalone refurbishment projects subject to criteria;

– A new product range in 2023, delivered through the Landlord Leader Fund, with accommodating LTVs and ICRs during refurbishment, to improve the property value and appeal to tenants;

– Enhancements to products and processes in 2023 to support more landlords on the journey, by managing property voids while works are being undertaken to improve energy efficiency;

– A redesigned underwriting process for existing landlords, including ensuring our teams are all trained to understand the complexities of the property upgrades so they can effectively assess the properties involved;

– Partnering with tax specialists who can provide advice and guidance on tax planning for part-time landlords looking to professionalise, including incorporating as a limited company and the treatment of qualifying capital expenditure.