Landlords Did the Minimum on EPCs. In 2030 the Minimum Changes

Morningstar DBRS published research on 24 September 2026 covering 27 million Energy Performance Certificate records for England and Wales, including around 510,000 privately rented properties that have been assessed more than once. Of those rented homes, 13.8% started at band F or G. By the most recent inspection, 1.9% were still there.

Landlords complied. That is the finding, and it is worth saying plainly because landlords rarely get credit for it.

Where the work stopped

The detail is the interesting part. Among rented properties that began at F or G and were improved, 51.8% went up to band E and no further. 31.3% reached D. Only 8.3% got to C or above.

Owner occupiers doing the same job went further. Of improved F and G owner occupied homes, 28.2% stopped at E, 39.4% reached D and 15.9% reached C or above.

Morningstar DBRS calls this targeted compliance behaviour, and it is exactly what you would expect. Since 1 April 2020 a property rated below E cannot be let, and the current spending cap for getting there is £3,500 including VAT. Band E was the legal line, so band E is where the money stopped.

The line moves on 1 October 2030

The government response published on 21 January 2026 confirmed a higher standard for privately rented homes in England and Wales from 1 October 2030. It is assessed against a fabric performance metric plus a secondary standard the landlord chooses, rather than the single letter most people picture. The cost cap rises to £10,000 per property, against an estimated average spend of £5,400. A property already holding an Energy Efficiency Rating of C or better on an EPC issued before 1 October 2029 stays compliant until that certificate expires or is replaced.

Put the two findings side by side. Around half the formerly F and G rented stock is parked at E, and in four years the bar sits well above E. The second round of work starts from where the first round stopped.

What it means in practice

Four years sounds like plenty. It is two fixed rate cycles for most landlords, which is the useful way to think about it. If you take a five year fix now, the property's condition at the end of it is what decides whether it can be let at all.

That matters more than it first appears. Buy to let borrowing is assessed on the rent the property produces, tested against a stressed rate rather than the rate you actually pay. A property that cannot legally be let produces no rent, so an EPC problem shows up as an affordability problem long before anyone calls it a compliance problem.

For landlords living overseas it is a diary question as much as a building question. Getting an assessor booked, quotes compared and tradespeople supervised from another time zone takes longer than anyone budgets for, and the 1 October 2029 grandfathering date rewards whoever gets their certificate issued in good time rather than in the queue. If you are buying into the sector from abroad, the EPC is worth reading before you offer, not after the survey.

Whether any of this spend is deductible against rental income is a tax question, and one for a qualified tax adviser rather than a broker.

If you want to talk through how this sits against your own portfolio, or against a purchase you are planning from overseas, get in touch and we can go through it.

Nobody is being asked to do the work twice. They are being asked to finish it.

Sources

• Morningstar DBRS, EPC analysis of 27 million records for England and Wales, published 24 September 2026, reported by LandlordZONE, 24 September 2026.
• GOV.UK, Improving the energy performance of privately rented homes: government response, updated 21 January 2026.
• GOV.UK, Domestic private rented property: minimum energy efficiency standard, landlord guidance, checked 25 September 2026.