One of Britain’s best known DJs has taken to social media to highlight what she sees as the unfair government policy of forcing higher EPC thresholds on properties in the private rental sector.
Liz Kershaw is the UK’s second-longest running female broadcast DJ, behind Annie Nightingale.
She worked for 30 years on BBC Radio and most recently has appeared on the GB News TV channel.
Last week she took to X, the social media forum previously known as Twitter, to say: “Today’s my Grandma’s birthday. She worked 19 hours a day running a pub until she was 70 & she left me £12K. I invested it in a buy to let. Now #Michael Gove is forcing me to evict my young tenants from this Victorian terrace because of energy ratings dictated by #NetZero2030.”
Currently, across England and Wales there is a minimum EPC requirement of E. That was set to be lifted to a minimum EPC C by 2028, although Housing Secretary Michael Gove has hinted this may be delayed.
Upgrades to meet the government targets will be costly. Savills estate agency’s analysis of EPC recommendations reveals that the cost of fully upgrading properties to a maximum EPC C ranges from £8,807 for a property that is currently an EPC D, to £27,366 for a property currently rated an EPC G.
Kershaw’s tweet has been trolled by opponents of buy to let, including Acorn, the pro-tenants organisation which is part of the Renters Reform Coalition led by another activist group, Generation Rent.
You can see Kershaw’s X social media feed here.