Planned private rental sector changes put millions of rental properties at risk

As part of the Labour government’s Plan For Change, plans are underway to make considerable changes to the UK’s private rental sector in a bid to raise living standards and reduce fuel poverty, which hit £6.1 million in 2025.

One of these planned changes is to raise minimum EPC ratings, demanding private landlords to improve the energy efficiency of their rental properties.

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are credentials for a property’s energy efficiency, rating from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient).

Plans are that after 2030, the acceptable EPC rating for private rental properties will be raised to a minimum of C, up from the current minimum EPC level of E.

According to the Private Landlord Survey 2024, 47% of landlords report having a property with a rating of D or below. With 4.4 million UK properties being rented from private landlords, that means millions of properties are at risk of being non-compliant.

The latest consultation on EPC reform outlined some additional changes, including an update to EPC metrics. The aim is to provide a more complete representation of building energy performance, using a new Home Energy Model (HEM) rather than Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) to provide an energy rating.

The new metrics might include details like heating system efficiency and smart technology integration as part of a property assessment. This could mean that certain properties that currently have higher level EPCs could see their rating fall when these changes are rolled out.

Even more changes expected

Landlords may soon be required to add this information to the new private rental database that’s expected to be created as part of the new Renters’ Rights Bill.

This new database will make it clearer to prospective tenants and local authorities which properties have EPC ratings below the legal minimum.

The government are also considering harsher penalties for a breach of these regulations. The current maximum fine for private domestic landlords renting out a property without a valid EPC is £5,000, although it was proposed in a recently published consultation on EPC reform that this amount be increased.

For commercial properties, fines are much higher, and it was proposed that the maximum fine in England and Wales be increased to £30,000 per property.

What to do

While there is still plenty of time to prepare, landlords should be prepared to make some changes.

Kara Gammell
Personal Finance Expert

The expected deadline for landlords to comply with new minimum standards is 2030

While these planned changes might sound worrying, there is plenty of time for landlords to bring their properties up to new standards.

No one needs to be making drastic renovations just yet. Instead, it may be wiser to focus on smaller, incremental improvements to your properties’ energy efficiency while we still don’t know the full details of the new assessment.

With so many landlords unaware of their EPC ratings, an important first step should be to get your properties assessed.

During the assessment, landlords should pay attention to the score they’re given and not just the final rating – taking note of where they may need to make improvements.

Then, if you do make any changes, you should keep evidence of them in the form of photographs so that they can be taken into consideration later on.