Ministers say tenants will enjoy lower energy bills…

Under the plans, landlords will have to improve their properties’ energy efficiency to the equivalent of an EPC C rating by 2030.

Those who are unable to do so, because their homes are old or unsuitable for drastic adaptation, will have to spend at least £10,000 trying.

Ministers have insisted the reforms will save renters hundreds of pounds on their energy bills and spare people from living in cold, damp homes. Similar proposals were initially put forward by the Tories under Boris Johnson’s leadership, but were then scrapped by Rishi Sunak.

Mr Miliband revived them and originally wanted even more ambitious rules, before watering down his plans following an industry backlash.

But landlord groups warned that his deadline of 2030 for renovations to be completed was still “unrealistic” and would prove costly for landlords.

An impact assessment published alongside the policy estimated that owners will have to spend £9.87bn between now and the end of the decade.

Long-term costs will rise to £15bn because landlords who cannot get their properties up to scratch by 2030 will have to try again every 10 years. The average owner will have to spend £5,387 per property, according to the assessment.

Officials acknowledged it was “possible that some landlords may pass some of the costs through to tenants in the form of higher rents”. They said that as a result, the projected £210-a-year savings tenants will make on their energy bills “could be offset” by rent increases.

“Upgrades could exert some upward pressure on rents if landlords seek to recover costs,” the impact assessment stated.

“Because rental prices are included in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), this could translate into a short-term inflationary effect.”

Officials also cited internal government research, which found “a quarter of landlords would contemplate leaving the market” in light of the policy.

They said one in four owners would be minded to sell if, having increased rents to cover costs, they got no offers on their property within six months but they added a similar proportion were considering exiting the rental market over the general climate, suggesting the new rules were not “the determining factor”.

Lack of housing could hit jobs market
“If landlords were to raise rents or withdraw properties…this could then reduce housing affordability and availability,” the impact assessment stated.

“This may constrain labour mobility, as workers could find it harder to relocate for job opportunities, thereby impacting employment levels.”

Industry leaders welcomed the fact that Mr Miliband had watered down his original plans, but warned the new requirements would still be onerous.

He had initially wanted to set a deadline of 2028 and to require landlords to spend up to £15,000 on improvements.Timothy Douglas, the head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark, said landlords faced having to deliver “substantial and costly upgrades”.

“This is being imposed without clear, long-term funding commitments, realistic delivery timescales, or sufficient flexibility for older, complex, and hard-to-treat properties,” he said.

Rob Wall, assistant director at the British Property Federation, added: “We still believe a compliance deadline of 2030 for all tenancies is unrealistic.”

The impact analysis shows that almost 1.8 million properties across England will require upgrades to get them up to the new energy standard. That includes more than half of rental homes in Yorkshire and the Humber, and more than four in 10 in the North West, East Midlands, and West Midlands.

Wealthier parts of the country will be less affected, with only a quarter of homes in London and the South East needing improvements.

Four out of five of the most rural rental properties, which tend to be amongst the oldest houses, will have to be renovated according to the document.

Matthew Dean, Chairman of iHowz, said there was a “huge financial and operational challenge to hit these new arbitrary targets.

A Government spokesman said: “The National Landlords Association has welcomed our announcement. We stand by the principle that every renter has the right to a decent, safe and affordable home. Our plans will ensure warmer homes for millions of renters, lift hundreds of thousands of households out of fuel poverty, and reduce energy bills by hundreds of pounds a year.

“This is a reasonable ask of landlords, and almost half of privately rented homes already meet the standards.

“We have carefully listened throughout the policy process, and have built-in protections, including a strict cost cap, and new and expanded exemptions. That is why this policy has been welcomed as a positive step forward by both tenant and landlord groups.”

Matthew Dean

26th January 2026.