The 2030 deadline for all rental properties to hit an EPC rating of C will cost landlords an average of £10,000 per property, and the clock is already ticking. That’s the headline from a warning issued by property consultancy leaders this week, as reported by The Negotiator. This affects landlords, but also the 4.6 million private renters in England. The ripple effects will hit their wallets and their living conditions hard.
Who qualifies, and who doesn’t
The rules are simple: from 2030, any property let on a new tenancy must have an EPC rating of C or above. Existing tenancies get until 2035. Currently, around 60% of rental properties are below C, meaning roughly 1.8 million homes need upgrades. The catch is that the government has not yet confirmed whether the £10,000 per-property cost cap, rumoured for months, will actually apply. Without it, landlords of hard-to-treat homes could face bills of £25,000 or more for solid wall insulation alone.
What it costs a typical 3-bed semi
Energy Saving Trust figures show that moving a typical 1930s semi-detached house from EPC D to C costs around £8,000-£12,000, depending on the measures needed. The breakdown: cavity wall insulation (£500-£1,000), loft insulation top-up (£300-£500), double glazing replacement (£3,000-£5,000), and a new boiler or heat pump (£3,000-£8,000). For a Victorian terrace with solid walls, external insulation alone can cost £10,000-£15,000. Ofgem data shows that tenants in D-rated homes pay on average £1,200 more per year in energy bills than those in C-rated homes, so the upgrade pays for itself in 8-10 years of lower bills, but only if the landlord passes on the savings.
But what about the tenant?
Here’s the rub: the landlord bears the upfront cost, but the tenant benefits from lower running costs, unless the landlord raises the rent to cover the investment. A survey by Generation Rent last year found that 1 in 5 tenants who had energy efficiency improvements saw their rent increase within 12 months. The government’s own impact assessment acknowledges this risk, but has not proposed any rent controls tied to EPC upgrades. The result could be that tenants in upgraded homes pay less for energy but more for rent, a net zero gain for many households already stretched by the cost of living crisis.
What to do now
If you’re a tenant in a property below EPC C, start by checking your EPC certificate, it’s available free on the government’s EPC register. Ask your landlord in writing whether they have a plan for the 2030 deadline. If they don’t, you have use: the local authority can issue a compliance notice, and ultimately the property cannot be let. For landlords reading this: book an EPC assessment now, even if you’re not planning works for a year. The assessment identifies exactly which measures will get you to C, and the report includes cost estimates. The worst position to be in is discovering in 2029 that your property needs £20,000 of work and there’s a six-month wait for an installer.
Frequently Asked Questions
From 2030, you cannot let a property with an EPC rating below C on a new tenancy. The local authority can issue a compliance notice and fine the landlord up to £30,000. Tenants can also take the landlord to tribunal for a rent repayment order.
Landlords can access the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) for cavity wall and loft insulation, but the scheme is means-tested for tenants, not landlords. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme offers £7,500 towards a heat pump, but only for owner-occupiers. No direct grant currently covers the full cost of an EPC upgrade for landlords.
