UK houses are getting greener, however renters aren’t seeing sooner enhancements regardless of authorities pushes to scrub up the rental sector, new knowledge reveals.
Rightmove’s 2025 Greener Houses Report reveals that whereas rental properties are usually extra vitality environment friendly than resale houses, new legal guidelines and proposals haven’t sped issues up. Progress within the rental market has slowed for the reason that 2020 coverage push, which launched a minimal EPC E score and proposed a future EPC C requirement.
Over the previous 5 years, the share of rental houses rated EPC C or above crept up from 52% to 58% — half the speed of the earlier 5 years. The resale market reveals an analogous slowdown, rising from 40% to 46%. Solely 3% of that progress occurred previously 12 months, providing a glimmer of hope, however momentum stays fragile.
Regional disparities are clear: London leads the rental sector with 66% of properties at EPC C or above, whereas Wales lags on 48%. Over the previous decade, the North West has made the largest positive aspects (+23%), whereas the South West trails (+11%).
The report means that short-term insurance policies alone aren’t sufficient to beat price and complexity boundaries in making UK rental houses actually vitality environment friendly.
Mentions of eco-tech in property listings are on the rise, with warmth pumps up 46% and photo voltaic panels up 37% year-on-year. The distinction in vitality payments is stark: EPC A houses common £571 a 12 months, in contrast with £6,368 for EPC G properties.
Saving cash is the primary driver, with 83% of householders citing decrease payments as their prime motivation. Slicing carbon footprints can be an element for 42%, whereas 58% say inexperienced upgrades enhance high quality of life, 30% see them as including worth, and 19% imagine eco options make their house extra enticing to consumers.
However regardless of the provision of presidency grants, 63% of individuals don’t have any plans to make inexperienced upgrades within the subsequent twelve months, and only one in ten (11%) are appearing to entry grants. This reveals that whereas the advantages are clear, even monetary incentives alone aren’t sufficient for widespread uptake.
Rightmove’s Colleen Babcock added: “Coverage ambition hasn’t translated into real-world acceleration. We would have anticipated inexperienced enhancements to hurry up within the rental sector following coverage pushes, however the knowledge reveals progress over the previous 5 years has been slower than the earlier 5.
“For landlords, the problem is balancing compliance with price and potential worth appreciation, and for renters, it’s about discovering houses that ship actual financial savings. Vitality effectivity isn’t simply good for the planet, it’s good for the pocket too, and making it simpler to realize shall be key to unlocking sooner change.”
Landlords say authorities’s vitality effectivity plans will break the financial institution
