Eco-Crisis – rental homes not becoming more energy efficient

A new report from Rightmove suggests that while the rental sector’s total property stock is more energy efficient than the resale sector, the threat of new stricter targets has not led to an acceleration in green improvements.

Despite the policy push back in 2020, which introduced a minimum EPC E requirement for rental properties and proposed a future EPC C mandate, the latest five-year view shows momentum has slowed. 

The portal says this suggests short-term schemes and proposals alone aren’t enough to overcome cost and complexity barriers. Progress has almost halved over the past five years, compared to the previous five-year period in both the rental and resale markets.

In the rental market:

• 2015 – 2020 – Proportion of homes with EPC C ratings or above increased from 41% to 52%
• 2020 – 2025 – Proportion of homes with EPC C ratings or above increased from 52% to 58%

In the resale market:

• 2015 – 2020 – Proportion of homes with EPC C ratings or above increased from 29% to 40%
• 2020 – 2025 – Proportion of homes with EPC C ratings or above increased from 40% to 46%

Some 3% of the progress in both markets over the past five years has come over the past year. Rightmove suggests that’s a positive sign, but it remains to be seen if this recent pace of progress will continue.

A regional view shows that disparities persist, with London leading the rental market at 66% of properties at EPC C or above, while Wales lags at 48%. The North West has seen the biggest decade-long rental improvement (+23%), while the South West records the slowest (+11%).

Rightmove’s fourth annual Greener Homes Report highlights the benefit of greener homes for those who can afford to make changes, and that it is increasingly being used as a selling point:

• Mentions of green technology in property listings on Rightmove are climbing. Heat pumps are up 46% and solar panels are up 37% year-on-year
• Homes for sale rated EPC A have average annual energy bills of £571, compared with £6,368 for properties rated EPC G
• Saving money on energy bills continues to be the biggest motivator for making green upgrades, with 83% saying it is their main motivation. 42% of people cite carbon footprint reduction as a key driver to making green changes
• Of those making green changes, almost six in ten (58%) say they are motivated to do so for a better quality of life, almost a third (30%) believe green upgrades add value to their home, and nearly one in five (19%) feel adding green technology makes their property more attractive to future buyers

Despite the availability of government grants, 63% of people have no plans to make green upgrades in the next twelve months, and just one in ten (11%) are acting to access grants. This shows that while the benefits are clear, even financial incentives alone aren’t enough for widespread uptake.

Colleen Babcock, property expert at Rightmove, adds:“For landlords, the challenge is balancing compliance with cost and potential value appreciation, and for renters, it’s about finding homes that deliver real savings. Energy efficiency isn’t just good for the planet, it’s good for the pocket too, and making it easier to achieve will be key to unlocking faster change.”

Rightmove’s annual Greener Homes Report, now in its fourth year, analyses over 17 million EPC certificates and almost 30 million property listings on Rightmove, along with insights from more than 1,200 UK consumers. See here to view the full Rightmove 2025 Greener Homes Report.

This article is taken from Landlord Today