Labour to make landlords meet inexperienced vitality targets by 2030

Landlords in England and Wales must ensure homes meet energy efficiency standards or face a ban on renting them out, under a new Labour plan. 

Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and energy secretary Ed Miliband today announced a consultation on plans to require an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of C in all privately rented homes by 2030. 

They are currently required to have an EPC rating of E.  

Labour said that doing so could reduce the average tenant’s energy bill by £240 per year, as well as improving the general quality of rented homes. 

EPC ratings range from A, the most efficient, to G, the least. Typically, newer and better-insulated homes have a better rating than older, draughtier ones. 

The median EPC rating in England and Wales was a D, according to the most recent Office for National Statistics study in 2022. 

Warmer homes: Labour claims the EPC targets for landlords will lead to lower bills for tenants

The National Residential Landlords Association suggests there are 2.5million privately rented properties that have a rating of D or lower and would need improvement. 

However, landlords are concerned about the cost of carrying out upgrades to their properties in order to meet the targets, which could run into thousands. 

There are also worries that some landlords will sell the properties they own rather than shell out on upgrading them. 

If this happened in large numbers, it could cut the amount of homes available and potentially lead to increased rents for tenants. 

Renovations that can improve a home’s EPC rating include installing insulation, replacing the boiler with a more energy efficient model or a green alternative such as a heat pump, or putting in double-glazed windows.  

Figures from the National Residential Landlords Association suggest solid wall insulation can cost more than £20,000, especially in homes built without cavity walls.

Landlords with more modern properties will typically pay £9,000 to meet the new EPC standards, government figures show.

However, carrying out these works can also boost the value of a home. 

One of the proposals being consulted on is that landlords wouldn’t be required to spend more than a maximum cap of £15,000 per property to make the upgrades, or £10,000 if they could prove their rents were lower than average. 

Officials also said support was available from the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and Warm Homes: Local Grant.

Launching the consultation, Angela Rayner said: ‘For far too long we have seen too many tenants plagued by shoddy and poor conditions in their homes and this Government is taking swift action to right the wrongs of the past.’

The energy efficiency requirement for landlords was mentioned in Labour’s manifesto and trailed by energy secretary Miliband at autumn’s party conference. 

A similar policy had been consulted on by the Conservatives, which would have seen an EPC rating of C enforced by 2028. 

However, it was never made law and was scrapped by Rishi Sunak’s government in 2023. 

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said: ‘We all want to see rented homes as energy efficient as possible, but that will require a realistic plan to achieve this.

‘The chronic shortage of tradespeople to carry out energy efficiency works needs to be addressed, alongside a targeted financial package to support investments in the work required as called for by the Committee on Fuel Poverty and Citizens Advice.

‘Importantly a realistic timetable is needed if the 2.5 million private rented homes, which will not currently meet the Government’s proposed standards, are to be improved.’

While Tom Darling, director of the Renters’ Reform Coalition, said: ‘With so many renters in fuel poverty, it’s vital that homes are made cheaper and easier to heat. 

‘However, these plans must take place alongside amendments to the Renters’ Rights Bill to protect renters from eviction and rent rises where public money has been used to improve a property. 

‘If renters start losing out as a result of the Warm Homes Plan, then uptake could nosedive, leaving the government’s worthy ambitions in ruins.’