"For many owners, particularly those with older homes, the cost of reaching an EPC C rating can be substantial and may simply not be financially viable"
- Jason Harris-Cohen - LandlordBuyer
Nearly 3 million privately rented homes in England could become illegal to let by 2030 unless landlords carry out energy efficiency upgrades, according to a warning from property buying service LandlordBuyer.
The alert centres on proposed regulations that would require all privately rented properties to hold a minimum EPC C rating, a threshold that 2.9 million homes currently fall short of.
Government impact assessments put the average cost of upgrading a rental property to EPC C at around £5,400, with a proposed spending cap of up to £10,000 per property. For landlords who own one or two properties, those figures represent a significant financial exposure, particularly when set against a backdrop of higher mortgage rates, new licensing schemes and mounting regulatory requirements.
The scale of the problem for UK landlords
The challenge is especially acute for owners of older housing stock. Victorian and early 20th-century properties often require substantial structural work to reach modern efficiency standards, with improvements potentially spanning wall insulation, upgraded heating systems, double glazing and renewable energy installations.
Many of the UK's private landlords are small-scale investors rather than large portfolio operators, and the economics of retrofit can look very different for someone managing a single terraced house compared with an institutional landlord spreading costs across hundreds of units. For those with mortgaged properties, where debt servicing costs have risen sharply since 2022, absorbing an additional five-figure upgrade bill may simply not be viable.
Property experts warn that regulatory pressure combined with upgrade costs could push more landlords to exit the market, shrinking the supply of rental homes at a time when tenant demand already outstrips availability in most UK regions.
What landlords are weighing up
"We're increasingly hearing from landlords who are concerned about how future EPC requirements will affect their properties," said Jason Harris-Cohen, managing director at LandlordBuyer. "For many owners, particularly those with older homes, the cost of reaching an EPC C rating can be substantial and may simply not be financially viable."
For landlords who decide the numbers no longer stack up, selling is not always as disruptive as assumed, Harris-Cohen noted.
"Many landlords assume that selling a rental property automatically means asking tenants to leave first, but that isn't always the case," he said. "In reality, properties can be sold with tenants still living in them, which can help avoid evictions and maintain stability for renters."
Services that buy tenanted properties have grown in visibility as the regulatory environment has tightened, offering landlords a route to exit without the delays or complications that can arise on the open market. For some, that option is becoming more attractive than committing to costly upgrades on properties with uncertain long-term returns.
What happens next in the rental market
The 2030 deadline, if confirmed, gives landlords a limited window to assess their portfolios and decide whether to upgrade, sell or sit tight and hope for further policy changes. The government has yet to legislate formally on the new EPC C requirement, and some landlord groups are lobbying for extended timelines and increased financial support.
What is clear is that the gap between the current performance of England's private rented housing stock and the government's energy efficiency ambitions remains substantial.
With 2.9 million homes below the proposed threshold and upgrade costs that many small landlords will struggle to absorb, the coming years are likely to see continued tension between the drive to decarbonise UK housing and the financial realities facing individual property owners.
