Are you a Landlord struggling to get your property up to EPC rating 'C'? | Buy to Let Sustainability

Within 4 years we will see the government expecting Landlords to have an EPC 'C' rating on all their rented properties. If this is a concern for you as a Buy to Let Landlord, or if you aren't aware of it, then read on.

This change will be something BTL Landlords will have to act more a less straight away in order to be ready for the government change, but most are already juggling with how they are logistically going to be able to make the deadline. Recent research tells us that 14% of BTL Landlords will have to use their annual rental income and more to cover the costs of this standard energy rating. As it stands throughout England and Wales buy to let properties need to have a minimum of an 'E' rating. Within the latest research, 35% of landlords not only had financial concerns on the impending 'C' rating but also felt in the dark about what it actually takes to achieve this new government rating.

Here are some of the challenges Landlords could be facing:

1. Property constraints

This is going to be relevant to Landlords especially with flats, as it means joining forces with other Landlords who have flats in the same building. This could bring up a lot of constraints in the fact that communal area improvements etc may need input from multiple people. There may be many limitations on what is actually viable for the properties based on the building itself.

2. Property access whilst the property is occupied

If Landlords have long term tenants in their properties, it may be tricky to access whenever needs are due to tenant needs. The whole point of being a private tenant is that of privacy and having the convenience of not having Landlords drop it all the time unless of course requested to. There is a certain level of disruption that would take place as well during tenant stays. Lastly, there is also the issue of Landlords not living anywhere near the properties they rent out. Especially for those who rent out properties all over the country.

3. Limited benefit to Tenants and no return on Investments for Landlords

Research showed that Landlords weren't informed of the benefits this new rating would have for their Tenants. Some fear it will cost more down the line than the initial cost to meet requirements, so any income they make from rentals will be invalid.

The step to going greener...

Some lenders within the market are launching Green advances which are loans given to existing BTL Landlords. They are usually considerably lower than your average advance which is a positive. It is important to remember that at present this change is not law enforced, Landlords have been worried about penalties for not meeting the deadline. It seems at present a rumoured Green Homes Grant could be released in due course to help out Landlords, but this is not certain.

Exemptions as it stands...

With the current guidelines, it seems there may be some exemptions for Landlords trying to achieve the 'C' rating.

• If an occupant or anyone relevant to the property where permission is needed to carry out relevant works refuses permission.

• If it is not actually feasible to do work on the property to meet the standard rating.

• If the cost to carry out the work would exceed £20,000.

Getting prepared

• Landlords need to check their EPC certificates. Although these last for 10 years it is advisable to get a fresh one before commencing any expensive works on a property

• Budgets and plans need to be put in place. This is especially important for Landlords with a portfolio of numerous older properties, as they may well be excluded.

Research Tradesman that are: Registered as a certified installer with TrustMark, Has certification for the installation of energy efficiency measures against one of the following Publicly Available Specification (PAS) standards.

• PAS 2030:2017

• PAS 2030:2019

• PAS 2035:2019

Talk to me today about your circumstances if this is of concern to you. It may be best to search whole of market on a Green advance loan.

All the best

Em.