Skipton Group is urging the government to consider ways to incentivise and support landlords in the forthcoming Autumn Budget, to enable landlords to reach the new set target of an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of Band C on their properties by 2030.

Following the government’s confirmation that all landlords will have to meet an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of Band C by 2030, Charlotte Harrison, CEO of Home Financing at Skipton Group, wants the new chancellor Rachel Reeves to announce measures designed to help landlords work towards this deadline.

Skipton’s research reveals a third of landlords are not fully aware of their buy-to-let (BTL) properties’ EPC ratings. It also found that 46% of landlords are planning on using their savings to pay for improvements to their BTL properties and 39% may consider selling up.

Hamptons, part of Skipton Group, warned it may take landlords up to 18 years to meet the EPC rating required. The data showed that to meet the Government’s 2030 target, the same number of homes will need to see energy upgrades over the next five years as have made improvements in the last 30 years.

Harrison said: “Landlords play an integral part in the UK’s housing provision, and we know they face significant challenges in greening their homes from an awareness, cost, and access to appropriate guidance and skills perspective.

“We believe that when it comes to the decarbonisation of our housing stock, the Government needs to consider ways to incentivise and support landlords in forthcoming Budgets to enable them to reach the new proposed target.

“Making the necessary improvements to their properties is critical to helping the country meet its net zero target and, importantly, will help to address some of the challenges that the cost-of-living, energy and climate crises have had on people living in the UK.”

Skipton suggested that support for landlords could include making energy improvement costs tax-deductible. The government could go one step further by offering grants or matching energy home improvement spending pound for pound, for example.

Harrison added: “To date, there have been more incentives for homeowners and social tenants to green their homes than there have been for landlords, offering an opportunity for this government to equalise that imbalance.”