NEW: Report says 87% of landlords will face full cost of EPC upgrades

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Just 0.2% of private landlords would qualify for full state support to help upgrade their properties under a proposed scheme to get the UK’s walls insulated, while 87% would be liable for the full costs.

The Economy 2030 Inquiry says simply basing hand-outs on means-tested benefits misses out too many poorer households, while using council tax bands includes too many richer ones. Instead, it suggests basing a model on the social care financial assessment to means tests assets and income which would share costs equitably between households and the state.

In its report – Hitting a brick wall – the think-tank says the PRS in England has the worst problem of very poor walls, with 25% of all rented properties having rock-bottom-rated walls, and a further 15% having poor walls.

Rental premium

It says that given that properties rated A to C on the EPC scale typically command a rental premium of about 5% on their D-rated counterparts, landlords can eventually recoup their outlay. When they come to sell, they would also be able to cash in on similar premiums seen in sale prices for more efficient properties.

It believes that insisting insulation upgrades are made at or around the point of sale would be a more effective policy approach for private rented stock than for owner occupied homes.

Read advice on energy efficiency laws.

Just one-in-eight (16%) of private rented properties in England with an EPC rating of D or below have not changed hands in the past decade, compared with two-thirds (67%) of low-efficiency properties in the owner-occupied sector.

The government is planning to extend the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards; draft proposals suggest that the minimum EPC requirement for rental properties could be increased to C for new tenancies in 2025 and existing tenancies in 2028.

Read the report in full.

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