New analysis of Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data reveals that half of all homes in England and Wales currently fail to meet the government’s forthcoming EPC C standard, highlighting a significant challenge ahead for landlords and homeowners alike.

Widespread EPC C shortfall across housing sectors

Data from EPCGuide, which examined 29.2 million domestic EPC certificates, shows that over 16 million properties fall below the EPC C threshold. This includes both private rented and owner-occupied homes, with owner-occupied properties performing worse overall. Specifically, 39.4% of owner-occupied homes fail to meet EPC C standards, compared to 33.8% of private rented properties.

Currently, landlords must ensure their properties achieve at least an EPC rating of E, with a legal requirement to reach EPC C by 2030. Owner-occupiers, however, face no such obligation to improve their homes’ energy efficiency, despite the poorer average ratings in this sector.

Energy inefficiency and retrofit costs

The research also highlights that private renters are 42% more likely to live in homes with uninsulated solid walls—36.9% of rented properties compared with 26.0% of owner-occupied homes. This factor significantly impacts energy performance and heating costs.

Upgrading each property to meet the EPC C standard is estimated to cost around £7,000, amounting to a total investment of approximately £111.7 billion for the private rented sector alone. EPCGuide describes this as one of the largest infrastructure challenges facing the UK, requiring a retrofit programme of unprecedented scale and speed.

“Our analysis of every EPC ever issued reveals that more than half of English and Welsh homes would fail the proposed 2030 minimum standard. The scale of this challenge has been consistently underestimated. With 16.1 million properties needing upgrades in less than five years, the UK faces one of the most ambitious retrofit programmes in its peacetime history,” the EPCGuide research team stated.

They added, “The £111.7 billion price tag represents one of the largest infrastructure challenges facing the UK, equivalent to roughly £7,000 per non-compliant property. Without coordinated government intervention, market incentives alone cannot deliver this at the speed and scale required.”

Regional disparities in energy performance

Significant regional variations exist in the proportion of homes below EPC C. The Isles of Scilly has the highest rate, with 85% of homes failing to meet the standard. Other areas with poor performance include Gwynedd in north Wales (74.3%), and Pendle and Blackpool in Lancashire (74% and 72%, respectively).

Conversely, urban areas with newer housing stock tend to perform better. Tower Hamlets in east London has the lowest proportion of homes below EPC C at 24.9%, followed by North Northamptonshire at 35%.

What this means for landlords

Landlords face a tightening regulatory environment as the government moves to enforce EPC C standards on all private rented properties by 2030. While the current minimum is EPC E, the scale of required improvements will demand significant investment and planning.

Given the high costs and technical challenges of retrofitting properties, landlords will need to assess their portfolios carefully and consider energy efficiency upgrades well in advance. The disparity in solid wall insulation prevalence also suggests that some properties may require more extensive works than others.

Without coordinated government support and clear market incentives, meeting these standards could prove difficult, particularly for smaller landlords. The coming years will be critical for landlords to engage with energy efficiency improvements to ensure compliance and protect rental income streams.

Source: Based on reporting from Property118

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