Hi, I am a landlord since the early 90s pre buy to let, I have kept my portfolio to 17 properties all less than 30 years old, all in desirable areas and they are always presented in top order. I like to think I’m a good landlord.
Like a lot of landlords the renters reform act has caused me concern but in general I think it’s manageable within my business, my big worry is Ed Milliband and the constant changing world of the EPC, my houses are all C rated now, but I am increasingly worried about pronouncements such as “All landlords will have to fit ground/air source heat pumps and be banned from fitting gas boilers in the future”. I realise my houses are either not suited to these forms of heating, and the need to fit solar panels to offset the huge increase in electricity costs will basically make my portfolio bankruptcy material. I also worry that although my portfolio are largely C rated, they keep changing the EPC format (ie moving the goalposts) and in the future my houses may fall short of the C rating and I will yet again be left with huge bills.
Basically as I see it, unless we have a radical change of government thinking, that introduces the environmental changes in a less brutal manner, I can only see one way out, and that is to start selling now, my houses are very desirable to first time buyers and would command decent prices, so selling would be easy apart from the CGT I would pay. I’m 58 and I am afraid for the future of the PRS.
My plumber who has got into green installations, tells me the technology is not there yet, and the sheer cost makes the government plans a joke, and that they keep moving the deadlines because they are unachievable (such as gas boilers in new builds)
What are your thoughts fellow landlords, I would love to know your thoughts on this issue.
Try reading the blog on epc rules by ‘independent landlord’ from late jan
Basically govt has rowed back (10k cost cap not 15k, date moved back to 2030) and you can get an epc of c using current method till sep 2029 so covering you till aug 2039. There’s also an exemption that if only thing left to do is wall insulation then you dont have to do.
The govt has said nobody will be forced to change a working gas boiler. If you installed one today it could easily last 20y and best ones have 10y warranty. If it breaks you can always install an electric combi boiler instead for around same cost and sell up just not to an investor who wants to rent out.
The latest proposals are a consultation ending march and could well be watered down further or scrapped by a future gov. Certainly the tories have said they will scrap the net zero targets and costly measures and if the doom merchants here predicting the end of PRA due to RRA are even half right, govts will be under pressure not to add even more costs to landlords as nobody believes LLs wont pass costs on in higher rents.
The average estimated spend is a lot less than 10k esp if you are c already.
At least worth waiting a year or two to find out what current gov does but seems worth getting a new epc c say in 2027 or 2028 gives you plenty of time to see how it pans out and sell if you want.
Selling up now (when lots are doing due to RRA as wont be as easy to remove bad or troublesome tenants with no s21) doesnt feel like best timing to me
It may be as good (not) as the badly fitted external and cavity insulation that has been fitted thru out the country, which is now causing damp problems
I agree. All of my properties are C, but I expect the EPC methology to be changed, and they may drop below C without heat pumps or other upgrades.
I’ve just sold one…. holding the rest for now, but….. am not concerned about RRA too much, as if I get a bad tenant, I will evict to sell with no hesitation.
My concern with RRA is my HMO, as a bad tenant in there could cause lots of problems.
So you are selling now even tho new epc methodology not proposed till oct 29 and before that you can update your epc with current method which will be valid another 10years?
Are you able to confirm if each assessor will be able to let the customer choose if they wish property to be assessed by the current standard or by the new HEM standard? Whats your source?
Erm we dont know about each assessor that will i’m guessing depend if they have training/accreditation allowing them to assess against both current and new methods
But we do know both methods are proposed to be available in parallel till sep.2029. And the epcs will still have 10y validity. See the blog by the " independent landlord"
" The new EPC minimum energy efficiency standards for landlords for 2030"
(Dated 26 jan 2026)
" * Transition **arrangements. **If a property receives an EPC C before 1 October 2029, either using the existing EER methodology or the new HEM:EPC methodology, they will be deemed to have met the MEES until the EPC expires.
EPC validity. EPCs will continue to be valid for 10 years."
Sources given are as follows
There’s a lot more to the proposals than the headlines “it’s been delayed to 2030 and the cost cap is £10,000”.
This announcement was contained in a 152-page document called the Warm Homes Plan, and three further documents were published alongside this.
This is the specific relevant text from the underlying govt doc i think
"Government has decided that properties with an EPC C rating against the EER, the headline
metric on existing EPCs, will be recognised as compliant with the future standard until the EPC
expires or is replaced (therefore invalidated). This is sometimes referred to as ‘grandparenting’
legislation. The EER will also remain as a legacy metric and be displayed on reformed EPCs
for a certain period. Therefore, government has decided that, properties that meet a C against
the EER on reformed EPCs before 1 October 2029 will be recognised as compliant with the
higher standard for the remainder of the validity period of these EPCs as well. The interim
response to the consultation on ‘Reforms to the Energy Performance of Buildings Regime’ has
confirmed that the validity length of EPCs will remain as 10 years following EPC reform. This
means that landlords have up to and inclusive of 30 September 2029 to bring a property up to
EER C to be recognised as compliant against the higher standard using this metric. "
P53
Improving the energy performance of privately
rented homes
Government response
I discussed this whole fiasco with an EPC surveyor on Friday morning while he was doing one of my lets. Let me state this as clearly as I can:
As an industry insider whose entire livelihood relies on understanding EPC rules, he has absolutely no clue what rules are changing and when they will change.
So, if he doesn’t know, no one on this forum does either despite what we might like to quote from various sources.
He stated that the industry is in such confusion that he and his colleagues were attending a nationwide meeting early next week in order to try to figure out what the heck was going on.
He had one simple piece of advice: If you don’t currently have an EPC or if you have a property that is currently rated a high D and have a cert expiring in the next few years, get your EPC done now. You’re highly likely to achieve a C under current rules and rules are only likely to get tighter.
To be fair to your EPC assessor I doubt he looks out for govt consultations coming out at the end of January so only around 2 weeks ago. They are quite hard to find online. And it is only a consultation at this point so nobody ‘knows’ for sure what will happen. It’s not made the news what with other more newsworthy stuff like Mandelson
No doubt someone will share the news about the govt proposals at the nationwide meeting
All that said, his advice is spot on and matches exactly what the govt consultation says and implies - that new standards will be tougher so get an EPC now/before it changes if close to a C at mo - exactly what I’ll be doing. Think the industry will have expected it to become tougher in future based on all the previous announcements about net zero etc so that’s not really a big surprise.
I’ve got a two-bed end-terrace.
Original EPC done in 2023 came out at D (64). Assessment took about 10 minutes, tenants present, lots of assumptions clearly used. Advised around £8k of improvements to achieve a C.
Property is now between tenants. I invited a second EPC assessor for advice only, and agreed they would only lodge a new EPC if it genuinely came out as a C.
I walked the property with him and:
Provided documented evidence of boiler efficiency
Confirmed heating controls and smart metering
Explained the electric fire is purely decorative (flame effect only), not secondary heating
Outcome: EPC C (71), now valid until 2036.
No physical changes were made, the difference was correcting defaults and assumptions used in the first assessment.
Also interesting that a chatbot suggest a “Compliance” Bonus, D to C jump adds £5k–£8k the property value.
Well done! I did read somewhere that nowadays assessors arent allowed to assume anything about insulation being in place etc so unless there is documentation or a way for them to view it, they will assume there’s none.
Correct . That is why when insulating you have to have a place where it can be measured . Be pre-emptive. eg A loft hatch, a fake socket, A trapdoor under the stairs and so on.
I’m thinking of doing a fresh EPC before September 2029 to stretch my legal peace of mind to 2039.
The government has officially confirmed (via the Warm Homes Plan in January 2026) that all rental properties must hit Band C by 1 October 2030. * The “Compliant” Shortcut: They have also stated that if you have a valid Band C certificate issued before October 2029, it will be accepted as compliant with the new 2030 rules until it expires.
Yes, but bear in mind that between now and September 2029, the assessment criteria for surveying properties may change. Keep an eye out for that so that when that date is announced, you have your surveys lined up to quality under existing criteria.
Thank you for all your contributions, it has given me some great insights, and it also says to me that the whole epc thing as it currently is heading is potentially a disaster unless as government seem to do, they move the deadlines or alter the criteria.
I can see that at the end of the decade there are going to be sell offs, the worrying thing is tax, if I sold several properties at the same time my cgt would be painful.
I am thinking of starting a slow sell off, 1 a year. My age is also at the point where I should be spending it rather than hoard it. I am going to see my accountant and thrash out a plan to slowly rid myself of my portfolio.
Would it really? I though we only got a CGT tax free allowance of £3k per year, so selling all at once, or over several years, wont make much difference.
Even if Labour were still in power then, which seems unlikely, I think that either there will be a further extension beyond 2030 or the assessment will be watered down somehow. Cliff edge policies like this one are out of kilter with the general approach of nudge politics that any government needs to see a steady transition from small private landlords to larger and more controllable corporate and institutions.
