EPC C for rental properties by 2030

At a recent Labour Party Conference, Ed Miliband suggested that Labour intends to change the minimum EPC rating for rental property. Today, a rental property must have a rating no worse than E. It is illegal to rent a property with an EPC rating of F or G.  Although I would suggest that it is not applied equally between private and social landlords, let's not go down that rabbit hole!

Originally, landlords were expected to have their property at C for new tenants from Dec 2025 and all by 2028. However, this was reversed. The previous PM, Rishi Sunak, suggested that achieving this would be too expensive for many landlords and that the time to comply would be too short.

Labour is now reversing this again.  From 2030, the minimum EPC will be C, and it will be expected as it is today that it will be illegal to let a property that does not meet this standard.  Again, I will say that it will be exciting to see if local authorities will come up with the money to bring all their properties up to that level or if there will be yet another pass for them when it doesn't suit or cash is not available.

To be clear, some properties do or can have an exemption to the EPC rating, which is expected to remain.  But it's for specific properties that simply can't be upgraded to meet the standard.  If they can, it would contravene planning rules or listed building status.

As always, things can change, but for now the expectation is C and by 2030.