Ed Miliband faces an uphill struggle to get landlords to improve their energy efficiency ratings (Image: Getty)
is facing a nightmare over government plans for landlords to ensure their meet stricter energy performance ratings.
The Energy Secretary told delegates at Labour’s party conference in Liverpool in September that he wanted rentail properties to meet an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of at least C by 2030.
EPCs were introduced in 2007 to help buyers compare properties’ energy use and environmental impact, with homes rated from A, meaning very efficient, to G, inefficient.
The minimum rating currently required from landlords is E, but this is due to tighten to help the UK reach Net Zero by 2050, raising questions about the cost of improvements and who pays for them.
But some landlords and homeowners have criticised EPCs, including Jeff Wickham, who wrote on Landlords UK Facebook page: “I have a three-year-old flat that is a D and impossible to get to C. The tenant tells me how warm it is and how low her bills are. We all know how unrealistic EPCs are.”
EPCs can be inaccurate and unreliable, a Which? study found (Image: Getty)
Landlord, Alan Dickinson, told the and EPC rating of C by 2030 would either be too expensive or impossible to achieve for many.
Homeowner, Megan Dobney, discovered it would cost £26,700 to improve the EPC rating from a D to a C of her Victorian terraced house in south London.
She said that according to an assessor making improvements would only save about £920 a year, meaning it would take almost 30 years to recover the cost.
Research published in July by consumer group, , found EPCs can also be inaccurate and unreliable.
Which? selected 12 homeowners and arranged EPC assessments in February and March this year. Among its findings, the group said one person’s home was surveyed but they never received their certificate.
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Measures to increase an energy efficiency rating can cost thousands (Image: Getty)
Eight participants told Which? their EPC rating didn’t appear to be accurate, pointing to incorrect descriptions of features of their homes, such as windows.
Another EPC had “significant” errors which when corrected saw the rating move from D to B, according to Which?’s research.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it is widely recognised improvements need to be made to the EPC system to improve their accuracy and reliability.
A spokesman said: “Energy Performance Certificates provide homeowners and renters with valuable information, but they can always be more precise so we are developing plans to improve their accuracy and reliability for both homeowners and tenants.
“Upgrading and retrofitting homes will also help tenants to live in warmer, cheaper houses that are free from damp and mould. Our plans for private rented homes to achieve a C rating or equivalent by 2030 will play a large part in making this happen.”