A utility supplier working closely with the lettings industry claims that the cost of making rental properties conform with new energy efficiency rules is likely to be £3.4 billion over the next three years.
In the next three years legislation from the Energy Act 2011 will require all private rental properties to meet a minimum energy efficiency standard, an EPC rating of at least E'.
If F' and G' rated properties are not upgraded to E' by 2018 they will be illegal to let out and this is set to affect an estimated one in 10 privately rented properties - about 380,000.
The cost of upgrading properties to an E rating is on average £9,000 per property but these upgrades can include anything from wall insulation to a new boiler and are listed on the property's EPC certificate.
Spark Energy claims currently six per cent of homes in the private rented sector are G' rated - the lowest possible banding - whereas just three per cent of owner occupier properties are rated G' and this is even lower for social housing. As a result tenants are paying on average £400 per year more on their energy bills.
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