Landlords Improve Your EPC Rating

All landlords understand the important of energy-efficiency and having a suitable Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating. At Thomas Morris, we take great pride in assisting local landlords, and if you are looking for guidance on this matter, we are on hand to help you.

We speak with many landlords and tenants, so we know what people are looking for. We also stay in touch with the latest findings when it comes to providing tenants with a satisfactory rental experience.

Do you need to improve your EPC rating?

Given that they are the leading property portal across the UK, it is natural that people pay attention to reports and surveys undertaken by Rightmove. The Rightmove study looked at 15 million homes across England and Wales, and found:

• 59% of properties hold a D, E, F or G rating

• The potential to reduce this percentage to 11% if recommended improvements are followed

• Up to 11 million homes in England and Wales don’t have an EPC rating

Looking for ways to improve your energy-efficiency rating at your rental property?

Rightmove have also provided a number of ways for landlords to boost their EPC rating, and some of these options are affordable.

• Install solar panels – While this is the most commonly recommended step, it is expensive, and will run into thousands of pounds

• Switching to low energy lighting – This is also a highly recommended option, but is far more affordable, the average cost is less than £40

• Insulating the hot water cylinder is a sensible option, and can be arranged at around £20

• Draught-proofing single glaze windows costs around £100

• Adding or improving loft insulation is sensible, and the average cost is £223

• Upgrading your heating control is sensible, but more expensive, with an average cost of £400

Rightmove’s director of property data Tim Bannister says: “It’s encouraging to see that there are some energy efficiency improvements that can cost less than £100, so it’s definitely worth checking your EPC if your home has one to see if there are small changes you could make to try and improve your rating. The bigger challenge is for those homes with much lower ratings that will cost a substantial amount of money to improve. There are a number of homeowners who don’t feel an urgent need to make changes now unless it makes a big difference to the cost of their household bills or if it’s going to make their home more attractive to a potential buyer if they’re planning to sell.”

Tim concluded by saying; “It’s early days with some lenders now starting to introduce green mortgages as incentives, but homeowners need to be better informed that how green your home is will become increasingly important as we aim to move towards a net zero society, and they need more help to understand why making improvements are so important for the long term.”

If you are looking for help with any matter of the property or lettings market, it is best to speak to property professionals. You can book a sales or rental valuation appointment directly on line at a time and date of your choice by clicking here or alternatively click here for individual branch contact details.