Letting agents, and indeed those who work in sales, are being encouraged to give their views on plans to improve the energy performance of privately rented homes in England and Wales to EPC band C.

The proposal, made last month by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, could have a significant impact on buy-to-let landlords, especially considering the large number of properties that would need to be upgraded, according to Paul Offley, compliance officer at The Guild of Property Professionals.

Offley firmly believes that agents should not miss this opportunity to impact the government’s decision with regard to the potential change.

As many of you will know, the current PRS Regulations mean that the minimum energy performance standard is an EPC band E for domestic rented properties.

Offley said: “The [existing] regulation is applicable to any property that is let under an assured tenancy, a regulated tenancy or a domestic agricultural tenancy, as well as any other property that is required to have an EPC.

“If a property has been marketed for sale or let, or has been modified in the past 10 years, then the likelihood is that the property will require an EPC unless the landlord has applied for an exemption.”

Offley acknowledges that there are various exemptions that apply, such as the ‘all relevant improvements made’ exemption, which applies when a landlord has made improvements to the property up to a cost cap of £3,500 including VAT, and the property still does not meet the minimum standards.

Several others exemptions apply, depending on the property and the landlord’s unique circumstances, such as having only recently become a landlord.

Offley commented: “Following the recent reports in some of the industry press, I have received a number of concerns relating to the proposal to introduce a new minimum energy efficiency rating for the Private Rental Sector (PRS) in England at level C, which would apply for all new tenancies from 2025 and all existing tenancies from 2028.

“As you can imagine there are a number of properties where this will impact significantly on landlords in some areas where the cost of energy improvements could be high.

“Landlords may also be concerned at the increased costs they may face, especially as some may have issues with rent arrears from their tenants who have been impacted by coronavirus – but ‘don’t panic’ is my clear message.

“At this stage the government has announced its intention and issued a consultation process, everyone involved with the PRS has until the end of December 2020 to have their say and submit a response to the consultation; so don’t suffer in silence this is your opportunity to have your say on this topic.”

Agents are encouraged to submit their response here or by emailing PRStrajectoryConsultation@beis.gov.uk.