Rented homes likely to miss net zero EPC targets
Analysis of data by Property Mark, the leading membership body for the property sector, has led to a warning that 40 per cent of privately rented homes in the UK are unlikely to meet the new energy efficiency standards due to come into effect in 2028.
Property Mark has analysed data from the English House Condition survey which shows in the eight years to 2020 the number of homes in the PRS with an EPC rating of ‘C’ rose from 19 per cent to 39 per cent. If that trend is replicated forwards to 2028, the sector will only rise by 60 per cent resulting in a 40 per cent shortfall on proposed targets.
Improving energy efficiency in the PRS
England’s 4.4 million privately rented homes make up 19 per cent of the country’s total housing stock, the second largest and fastest growing tenure behind owner-occupiers. Ensuring improvements in the energy efficiency of the PRS sector will be vital in supporting the UK’s 2050 net-zero targets. The government should be mindful of the current predicted shortfall.
Despite this and the urgency of the situation, the UK government is yet to respond to a consultation it held in 2020 on improving energy efficiency. The draft strategy includes a ‘preferred policy scenario’ for new tenancies to have a valid EPC rating of ‘C’ or above by 2025, extending to all tenancies by 2028.
Lagging Behind
Property Mark’s ‘Lagging Behind’ report highlights the variances in retrofitting costs based on individual property characteristics and regional housing costs. Failure to account for the massive differences in regional property costs when incentivising landlords to meet net-zero targets could reduce the quality and availability of housing stock and risk deepening economic inequality. According to Property Mark’s report, in some areas of the North and the Midlands, the cost of improving a property to meet net-zero targets can be as much as 25 per cent of the value of the property compared with London, where the cost of retrofitting with heat pumps is less than two per cent of overall property values.
Simple cost-effective solutions
With UK inflation now at a new 30-year high and soaring energy costs, fuel bills, and food prices driving an acute cost of living crisis, many tenants living in the PRS are feeling the pinch and need solutions today to help mitigate the crisis. Getting many of the properties in the PRS to an EPC ‘C’ will be a challenge requiring significant investment and planning. Thankfully, landlords can implement simple, cost-effective solutions today to help their tenants and kick start their property’s journey to meet the new targets.
Upgrading the heating controls is one cost-effective reform that requires minimum capital expenditure and can be implemented quickly. Smart thermostats and intelligent thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) offer a low-cost solution to improving your property’s EPC rating. Secure’s new intelligent thermostatic radiator valve Radbot 1 is one such innovation that can help the sector meet the requirements and maximise the efficiency of existing gas boiler systems and new low carbon heating systems. With the ability to improve a property’s EPC rating from 1 to 7 SAP points and an installation cost of less than £250 for the average home, Radbot 1 is one of the most cost-effective and energy-efficient measures currently available and a no-brainer for private sector landlords.
A significant improvement on the standard TRV, Radbot 1 enables room by room zoning by matching the heating output of a room to the current occupancy status. Each Radbot 1 device learns the occupancy pattern of a room. When it detects the room is not occupied, it automatically lowers the temperature helping to reduce energy consumption, save money and cut carbon emissions.