In an effort to combat escalating climate change, all properties sold and rented from 2007 were required to have an EPC certificate.
Changes were introduced for rented property in April 2018, which required the EPC to be a minimum of an ‘E’ Rating, so ‘F’ and ‘G’ rated properties couldn’t be newly let unless there was an exemption.
From April 2020, all rented properties (which are not exempt) must have a minimum of ‘E’ rating on their EPC certificate. You need to understand the new EPC changes.
If your EPC needs renewing, has your rating slipped to an F or G?
It is worth getting this done before April 2020 if you can, as although your current EPC may show the property as an ‘E’ rating, or even higher now, updated rules and tests over the last 10 years may mean it is actually rated as an ‘F’ or ‘G’ rating.
For example, some ways of heat loss are calculated have changed and values for cavity filled walls have been reduced. If these affect your property, then it could slip into a lower rating, even though ‘nothing has changed’ from your perspective since the last time your property was checked.
Which exemptions are accepted?
There are some cases where you can still let a property if it is ‘G’ or ‘F’ rated, however, you must make sure you apply for the property to be listed on the PRS Exemptions Register.
Basically, if you have made all the recommended changes to improve the property to an ‘E’ rating up to the cost of £3,500 and this still doesn’t raise the EPC rating enough, then you can still let the property, provided you have the relevant information to the PRS Exemptions Register. This would mean supplying quotes for the cost to upgrade the property
If you receive an exemption, it will last for five years and then you will have to try and improve the property again before your exemption is renewed.
EPCs for rented property: the future is a ‘C’ Rating
Whatever the EPC rating for a rented property, it is worth noting that in the future, the ‘E’ rating is expected to go, and all rented properties will be required to conform to at least a ‘C’ rating.
In view of this, I think it’s best to make sure any renovation work you are carrying out takes full advantage of effective energy saving measures available to you. It’s not worth just delivering properties which achieve the minimum from a landlord’s perspective; the lower the tenant’s heating bills, the more money they will have left over to pay your rent, so the higher energy rating, the better.
Time to cash in your investment?
If you have had enough of the ever changing rental rules and regulations and are worried by potential fines from the Local Authority if your let property isn’t up to scratch, we can purchase your property for cash.
LandlordBuyer is an easy and quick solution to selling your property without having to evict your tenants, which we then keep and let or sell on in the future.
We are members of the National Landlord Association and the Property Ombudsman and by selling to us you can save on estate agent's, legal, mortgage fees and the cost of an EPC. As we can buy properties quickly, you wouldn’t have to incur any of the utility bills or council tax that you would normally have to pay while waiting for a sale to go through.