Landlord EPC Compliance Before the 2030 Deadline

The current minimum is EPC band E. Since 1 April 2018 you cannot grant a new tenancy on a home rated F or G, and since 1 April 2020 you cannot continue to let any existing tenancy below E either, unless you have registered a valid exemption on the PRS Exemptions Register. So today an E, D, C, B or A is lawfully lettable and an F or G is not without an exemption. Separately, the government has confirmed its intention to raise this minimum to the equivalent of EPC C, with a proposed compliance date of 1 October 2030, so E is the standard now but C is the standard being planned for.

Not yet. It is a firm, confirmed government intention rather than enacted law. In its response to the 2025 'improving the energy performance of privately rented homes' consultation, the government confirmed it intends to raise the minimum standard for privately rented homes to the equivalent of EPC C, with a headline compliance date of 1 October 2030 for all tenancies, delivered through a new dual-metric standard. That standard has to be brought in through secondary legislation and needs Parliamentary approval, and the detail can still change. Our honest advice is to treat it as coming and plan for it now, especially if you own solid-wall or electric-heated stock, but not to believe anyone who tells you the exact final rules are already settled.

The certificate is one of the cheaper parts of compliance. A domestic EPC for a typical flat or terraced house is a modest fixed fee, and larger homes, HMOs and properties with awkward access cost a little more because the survey takes longer. Portfolio landlords can usually secure a better per-property rate across multiple properties. The real cost, if any, is not the certificate but the improvement work it recommends to reach the standard, which is exactly why the assessment is worth it: it tells you precisely where you stand and gives you a ranked, costed roadmap so you never spend blind.

Ten years from the date it is lodged on the register. You do not have to renew it in the meantime, and you can re-use an in-date EPC for a new tenancy, but you must have a valid (in-date) certificate whenever you market and let the property. If your EPC is more than ten years old, or you cannot find it, treat it as expired and get a fresh assessment before the property goes back on the market. You can check whether an existing certificate is still valid on the government's find-energy-certificate service.

MEES stands for the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard, set by the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) Regulations 2015. For domestic property it means you cannot lawfully let, or continue to let, a home with an EPC below band E unless you register a valid exemption. It applies to you if you let residential property on a qualifying tenancy in England or Wales. Since 1 April 2020 it bites on existing tenancies too, not just new lets, so an old, poor EPC on a currently-let home is a live compliance risk, not a dormant one.

An F or G-rated home cannot lawfully be let, or continue to be let, unless you register a valid exemption on the PRS Exemptions Register, so in practice it is unlettable until improved or exempted. The good news is that the EPC report lists the recommended improvements, and for most F/G homes the quickest, cheapest lifts, loft insulation, a modern boiler or heating controls, draught-proofing, LED lighting and cylinder insulation, are enough to move you back over the E line. Where the cheapest route exceeds the £3,500 cost cap, or wall insulation would damage the property, or a freeholder refuses consent, a registrable exemption may apply. Ignoring an F or G is the expensive option: letting in breach exposes you to penalties up to £5,000 per property.