Mar

Agents will need to check their landlords’ EPC ratings

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Find EPC Rating:

Checking out a rental property’s EPC rating is a relatively simply process that any agent or landlord can do instantly online. Providing the property has had an Energy Performance Assessment done within the last 10 years, (EPCs last for 10 years and usually cost between £70 and £100) the information is available from the MHCLG website – see below.

With the coming of the MEES (Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard) regulations in April, letting agents, and indeed landlords themselves, will need to make sure that a property is reaching a minimum energy efficiency standard of “E” before it is marketed to let.

New regulations coming into force this April 1 mean that residential landlords and their agents are obliged to ensure that their rental properties meet the required rating before a new or a replacement tenancy is granted, or otherwise they will face heavy penalties.

The penalty for renting out a property on a new or renewal tenancy for any period of fewer than three months will be in breach of the MEES Regulations and will be equivalent to 10% of the property’s rateable value, subject to a minimum penalty of £5,000 and a maximum of £50,000. After three months, the penalty rises to 20% of the rateable value, with a minimum penalty of £10,000 and a maximum of £150,000.

Also, in two years’ time, even with existing tenancies – 1 April, 2020 – it will become illegal for residential landlords to continue letting out a property if they have not addressed the issue of energy efficiency and ensured the property meets the minimum “E” EPC rating.

Another pressing reason for doing this is for mortgage renewals. Under the new mortgage regulations, underwriting standards for buy-to-let mortgage contracts, issued under the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority, new buy-to-let mortgages and renewals require proof that

Mortgage lenders granting new finance deals will typically require properties to be revalued. If single rental properties or properties in a landlord’s portfolio do not meet the minimum MEES standards after April, value could be affected would possibly result in mortgage applications being turned down.

Find the EPC rating for a property instantly online using the property address here

Guidance for landlords and Local Authorities on the minimum level of energy efficiency here

Underwriting standards for buy-to-let mortgage contracts here

New Energy Regulations could scupper mortgage renewals

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