LATEST: 18% of rented homes will need £10,000 spent on them to achieve EPC band C

Nearly one-fifth of private rented homes would need work costing more than £10,000 to bring them up to an EPC Band C, according to the latest PRS figures.

The English Housing Survey Private Rented Sector report for 2020-21 found that these were more likely to need larger sums of money spent on them to reach a C than those of social renters but less likely to require the greatest spend of £15,000 or more compared with owner-occupiers.

Energy efficiency improvement costs were estimated at between £5,000 and £9,999 (45% of PRS homes), while almost a third (31%) could be improved for under £5,000.

At the other end of the scale, 18% of homes would cost more than £10,000 to improve to at least a Band C, and a further 6% of homes would require £15,000 or more.

2025

The government is currently considering proposals that would mean all new tenancies started after the end of December 2025 would need a minimum EPC rating of C while all existing tenancies would need this from December 2028.

In 2020, most private renters lived in properties with a Band D (45%) and C (39%) while 10% lived in homes with a Band E, and 4% were in the lowest rated homes with Band F or G.

Read more about energy efficiency laws.

Private renters generally lived in poorer performing dwellings compared with social renters; 63% of social renters’ homes had a Band C and only 1% lived in houses with a Band F or G. Private renters in London (50%) were more likely to live in a property with a C rating compared with the rest of England (36%).

The report puts the poorer energy performance of the private rented sector down to the fact it has a higher proportion of the oldest (built before 1919) and generally less well-insulated housing stock than the social sector.

Read the report in full.

Read more about EPCs