"All stick, no carrot" is no way to improve energy efficiency

Why "all stick, no carrot" is no way to improve energy efficiency

The Government is rightly urging landlords to improve the energy efficiency of rental homes. But its approach appears to be all stick and no carrot. This is unhelpful and landlords are understandably unimpressed. New research from The Mortgage Works, reported in Letting Agent Today, finds that more than half of landlords have thought about selling some or all their properties because they don’t feel able to fund the works specified by the government to reach future standards.

Current legislation in England and Wales requires buy to let properties to have at least an EPC rating of E. However, to improve energy efficiency, the government intends to increase the required rating to C for all new tenancies by 2025 and existing ones by 2028. This is a big ask. And there is little sign of new funding for financial incentives in the pipeline to help drive their plans forward. This week, ARLA has urged the Government to be more realistic in its target setting. Of course net zero is something that we should all be aiming for but to expect landlords to go it alone is too much. ARLA has pointed to the problems that could be caused by over-regulation in the market. And with landlords already facing compliance with around 170 different rules and regulations they could be forgiven for thinking it has already gone too far.

Another newly published report also highlights the problem of landlords leaving the market and making rental accommodation scarce. Flatshare site SpareRoom spoke with landlords to find out what has caused the drop in supply. Perhaps unsurprisingly 26% cited increased legislation as the biggest issue driving them out of the market. Clearly the rental sector has its part to play in combatting climate change – as do we all – but putting excessive pressure on landlords is not the answer. Instead, let’s see some achievable targets and carefully thought-through incentivisation to bring the sector alongside government in its journey towards more sustainable housing. Then maybe we will see some real results too.