Recent Government responses to consultations on the energy performance of buildings regime and the private rented sector (PRS) confirm a clear policy direction: residential property is subject to accelerating reform, while commercial property remains largely untouched.
Residential property set on a clear regulatory path
For residential property, the Government has confirmed the introduction of a new EPC C equivalent minimum standard for the private rented sector, with a single compliance date of 1 October 2030 for both new and existing lettings. This provides residential landlords with certainty on both the standard to be achieved and the timeframe for compliance.
Alongside the higher minimum standard, the methodology used to calculate the rating of residential EPCs will fundamentally change. The existing single cost-based metric will be replaced by four new headline metrics:
