Currently a Landlord has to have a valid EPC to market a property and this needs to be available to Tenants.
It does not matter what rating an EPC has, the property is still marketable. It is then up to Tenants to decide if they are happy to rent a house with a poor rating.
However this is set to change in 2018 when Landlords across England and Wales will be banned from letting out very draughty homes in a bid to cut energy bills and carbon emissions.
New regulations are set to cut bills of Tenants who spend an average of £1,265 on heating, exacerbated by poorly insulated homes.
The Government recently presented new regulations to parliament which will oblige Landlords to upgrade the energy efficiency of those to let properties currently rated F and G to a minimum of E by 1 April 2018 – or face being unable to let them until they improve the rating.
Where a property has a current Tenant in situ and the Tenant is content to live there with no changes then the Landlord will not have to do any remedial work to increase the EPC rating. However once this Tenant leaves then the required work will need to be done before the property can be remarketed to secure a new Tenant.
The government claims that almost 10% of England and Wales’ 4.2 million privately rented homes currently fall below the E rating.
From April 1 2016 – so only 12 months from now – Tenants living in F and G rated homes will be able to request improvements such as more insulation and over the following two years Landlords will be legally bound to bring homes up to an E-rating.
“This is a very big measure. Effectively, we’re saying, if you do not improve your property up to the minimum of EPC [Energy Performance Certificate] E rating by three years’ time, you will not be able to let out that property. Which is quite a big stick, and it’s about time too” Energy Secretary Ed Davey told The Guardian.
If a Tenant requests a more efficient home and a Landlord fails to comply, the Landlord could ultimately be forced to pay a penalty notice.