15% of landlords not aware of minimum EPC requirement

A survey of over 9,000 landlords, conducted by the department for Levelling up, Housing and the Communities revealed that 15% of current landlords were not aware that an EPC rating of E or higher was required for all tenancies.

A further 22% of those that took part in the survey were aware of the regulation, originally introduced for new tenancies in 2018 and extended to all tenancies in April 2020,  but did not understand the detail of the of it.  Slightly more positively, over 64% claimed to be fully aware of the requirement.

18% did not know the EPC rating of their properties

In the same survey a significant minority of landlords revealed they were not actually aware of the EPC rating of their properties, and 1% were a little coy – preferring not to say. 15% of landlords indicated that the properties they currently rented out were band E,F or G, so it seems likely that there is a significant minority that are not compliant with current legislation.

Issuing the certificate

Most landlords have provided their tenants with a copy of the EPC certificate though, with larger landlords the most likely to have done so. 94% of landlords with five or more properties had provided their tenants with a copy of the EPC certificate, falling to 86% of landlords with just one property.

More landlords are likely to have done this than carry out right to rent checks (78%) or issued the government’s ‘How to Rent’ guide (64%) which has been a requirement since October 2015

Complexity and confusion

There are a number of changes that have impacted on landlords recently and more to come via the Renters’ Reform Bill. Some landlords are still not aware of the changes to the energy efficiency legislation, or even what their current rating was.

This shows the considerable job require to communicate the requirement (and benefits) of the new minimum EPC target.

You can access the full research here