Responding to a question from Green MP Ellie Chowns about EPC legislation for landlords, Miatta Fahnbulleh, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, said the Government was “committed to reducing the number of fuel-poor households in England”.
She said the Government will require landlords to improve their properties to an EPC standard of C by 2030.
“Ensuring warmer, healthier private rented homes will lift many families out of fuel poverty and reduce energy bills,” Fahnbulleh said.
The previous Government had proposed legislation that would require landlords to improve the EPC rating of privately rented homes to a minimum of C by 2028, with new tenancies expected to meet a shorter deadline of 2025.
However, the former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak rowed back on this, saying that he did not want homeowners to have to make expensive changes in a short time period and that people renting would be impacted by the changes through rent rises.
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‘Nobody will be forced to rip out their boiler’
This EPC legislation has been taken back up by Labour in the Warm Homes plan, which, according to the Labour manifesto, will “offer grants and low-interest loans to support investment in insulation and other improvements such as solar panels, batteries and low-carbon heating to cut bills”.
It continued: “We will partner with combined authorities [and] local and devolved Governments to roll out this plan. Labour will also work with the private sector, including banks and building societies, to provide further private finance to accelerate home upgrades and low-carbon heating.
“We will ensure homes in the private rented sector meet minimum energy-efficiency standards by 2030, saving renters hundreds of pounds per year. Nobody will be forced to rip out their boiler as a result of our plans.”
A Government spokesperson said: “Responsible landlords who provide quality homes to their tenants have nothing to fear from the sensible overhaul of private rented sector regulation we intend to implement.
“The energy shocks of recent years have also shown the urgent need to upgrade British homes so we can secure our energy independence and reduce fuel poverty.
“Our Warm Homes Plan will support investment in insulation and low-carbon heating – upgrading millions of homes over this Parliament.”
Sources said the Government was considering how best to support and encourage landlords to make the required EPC changes and would be working with councils to encourage them to make green upgrades.
This article is based on one that was first published on YourMoney.com‘s sister site, Mortgage Solutions. Read: Government to introduce mandatory EPC C standard for landlords
