Last month, Housing Secretary Michael Gove declared the Government was “asking too much, too quickly” of landlords by setting a 2028 deadline for private rented homes to reach an EPC band C.

The deadline had been mooted in a policy consultation back in 2021. It has hung over landlords’ heads ever since, with little clarity or certainty on offer, so Gove’s latest comments sparked yet another debate about ‘will they, won’t they’, and even the value of EPCs in the first place.

Whatever the Government’s decision, there are pros and cons for landlords.

If Gove kicks the EPC C deadline into the long grass and delays the required improvements, I can’t help but feel it’s a temporary reprieve which simply triggers a gradual spiral of decline. A recent report estimates tenants will have to foot an additional £1.4bn in energy bills. And arguably that means, in the face of consistently high energy bills from inefficient homes, tenant finances will be squeezed further, rent arrears are likely to increase, and landlords will lose the income they need to pay for the upgrades which will still be required eventually.

Some landlords might feel reassured that the Government does not want to “overburden” landlords with the costs of improvements at a time of high inflation, but I can see no indication that retrofit costs are going to get that much cheaper in the future anyway. 

Alternatively, if the Government sticks to the 2028 deadline, obviously landlords will need to improve their properties up to an EPC band C and fork out for energy efficiency improvements over the next five years. 

For those landlords with ‘hard to treat’ low-rated properties, they would still be very likely to benefit from exemptions. But for others, the costs could be significant and often go on unglamorous fabric insulation measures which cannot be seen or marketed very easily.

For landlords who can afford to make the improvements now, the likely financial benefits include easier access to funding by ESG-conscious banks and other investors, a perceived higher-value portfolio of properties, and a more secure income stream from tenants who are not battling fuel poverty. And there are grant schemes available to help too, including the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and the forthcoming Great British Insulation Scheme.

But with over a third of a million landlords apparently already thinking of quitting the private rental sector, the Government’s EPC decision could lead also to a faster exodus, adding to rented housing shortages in vital constituencies.

So ultimately, the  Government will have to choose its priorities regarding housing and net zero, and will need to judge public sentiment on these issues.

From my point of view, what is needed urgently is certainty. In my experience, most landlords will do what is necessary to comply with new standards. But they need absolute clarity on the deadline for making energy efficiency improvements to EPC band C, clarity at a policy level on how our housing stock reaches carbon net zero, and clarity on the level of monetary support they will receive for making energy efficiency improvements.

And to support landlords in making their properties more energy efficient for tenants, we must ensure that EPCs themselves provide a true picture of energy performance – something we don’t have at the moment. The industry still awaits the delivery of the EPC Action Plan in England which is designed to improve the quality of EPCs. However, this is held up by the Energy Bill which currently sits in the House of Commons.

It is vital we revamp the EPC to support landlords in making the right improvements to meet EPC band C. Then, whenever the deadline turns out to be, at least we know we are doing a good job and all this waiting will have been worthwhile.

* Stuart Fairlie is managing director of Elmhurst Energy *