Propertymark is querying why there’s no help for the private rental sector to meet energy efficiency targets expressed in a new review led by a former Tory cabinet minister. 

Ex-energy minister Chris Skidmore has recommended delivering more energy efficiency homes in his latest Net Zero Review, which was commissioned by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.

Of critical importance for the rental sector in particular, Skidmore recommends that no new homes are built with a gas boiler from 2025 and all homes that are sold should have an EPC of C or above by 2033. 

Skidmore also wants a 10-year programme to make heat pumps a widespread technology in UK homes, and to radically change EPC ratings to create a “clearer, more accessible” Net Zero Performance Certificate.

He says the average household could save up to £6,000 a year through the move to net zero, mainly from switching petrol and diesel for electric cars, as well as swapping boilers for heat pumps. 

Propertymark’s head of policy and compliance Timothy Douglas says:  “We are disappointed that support remains unclear for existing homeowners and landlords in order to meet these standards and cover the large cost in doing so, as for many, this is unachievable without an incentive package.

“We recognise the important part that housing must play in reaching Net Zero, but continue to urge the UK government to move away from a one-size fits all policy and develop energy efficiency proposals that work with the different age, condition, and size of properties. 

“They must also quickly deliver on publishing responses to consultations on improving home energy performance through lenders and Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards as landlords, agents and homeowners urgently need time to reach the new standards.”

Skidmore himself says: “In developing this report, we have engaged with communities, economists and climate experts from across the country through more than 50 roundtables and 1,800 submissions.”

In April last year the government launched its Boiler Upgrade Scheme offering grants to encourage property owners in England and Wales to install low carbon heating systems – typically heat pumps – with landlords able to claim £5,000 towards the cost of an air source heat pump, £6,000 for a ground source heat pump, or £5,000 for a biomass boiler if the house is in a rural location and not connected to the gas grid.

The government has proposed that new rental properties will require an EPC of C or better by 2025 followed by all tenancies from 2028.