Really? Think tank claims almost all landlords want stricter EPCs

Almost four fifths of landlords favour raising the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards for private rental properties, a think tank claims.

The Social Market Foundation - which calls itself “a non-partisan think tank” - has conducted a survey which apparently shows that 79 per cent of landlords believe they should be subject to stricter energy efficiency regulations. Private sector landlords are in fact more supportive of raising the MEES to grade C than the general population, with only 11 per cent opposed to such a move.

This contradicts a very different result revealed in a survey last week by lender Landbay, which showed 74 per cent of private landlords welcoming the government’s decision to scrap the proposal that all rental property must have an energy performance certificate rating of at least C by 2028.

At present, the MEES is set to an E, which means that landlords are allowed to lease their properties if it gets an E rating on energy efficiency. The foundation claims this has led to the private rented sector being the worst performing tenure for energy efficiency in the UK.

The SMF claims private renters in England and Wales are on track to waste £1.1 billion (the equivalent of £220 per household) on energy that leaks out of their walls and windows.

In September, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak scrapped plans to require all landlords to upgrade their properties to at least EPC C by 2028, citing the need to protect tenants from unfair price hikes in rent due to the cost of renovations. 

The SMF says some landlords it has contacted expressed frustration at the uncertainty created by the government’s perceived indecisiveness and are worried that the goalposts might be moved once more. Others were upset at having spent substantial sums of money on improving their houses, only to discover that was unnecessary.

The foundation says economic incentives, such as making the costs of insulating a property are tax deductible from rental income, are a way to spur on landlords, but will be difficult to justify to the public, since only a quarter of people would support these incentives being available to all landlords. 

It suggests that a better approach would be to improve take-up of existing support – just over a fifth of landlords remain unaware of any such schemes. 

Other findings and recommendations from the research include both landlords and owner-occupiers sharing low trust in the insulation industry, and local authorities having a key role to play in increasing trust.

Niamh O Regan, researcher at Social Market Foundation, says: “British homes are on a dismal trajectory when it comes to improving energy efficiency, and failing to improve the private rented sector is losing an easy win.

“Recent government actions seem to suggest that renters can either have energy efficient homes or affordable rents – but this is a false logic. Poor energy efficiency is currently costing them millions. Instead of trying to understand landlords and how they can be motivated  to better insulate their properties, the Government would rather kick the can down the road, pushing us further and further from greener, healthier and more net-zero friendly homes.”

You can read the full SMF report on this subject here.

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