Decarbonisation: what are landlords’ rights and obligations?
A changing landscape
The UK and Scottish Governments are bringing new legislation to decarbonise the PRS, address fuel poverty among private tenants, and increase tenants’ protection. Legislation was a key component in our interviews, and the landlords we interviewed often referred to evolving regulatory contexts and expectations.
Currently, all rental properties are required to have an up-to-date Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), but regulations differ across Great Britain’s nations. While private tenants comprise 19% of homes, they account for 35% of fuel-poor households in England. The PRS lags behind the social rented sector on energy efficiency: 55% of rented households fall below EPC C in England, and 14% of privately rented homes in Scotland fall under band E or below, the highest concentration of low efficiency homes across tenure types.
Since April 2020, landlords in England and Wales cannot let a property with an EPC below Band E, unless they register an exemption on the basis that upgrading the property would exceed the £3,500 statutory cost cap. The UK Government’s May 2025 consultation on new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) explored bringing most properties in the PRS to Band C or above by 2030, with a £15,000 cost cap for exemptions. The Scottish Government plans to introduce its own MEES to the PRS for the first time, aiming for band C or above by 2033 (2028 onwards for new tenancies), with a cost cap of £10,000.
The new standards will be brought in alongside new EPC regulations. Current EPCs’ cost-based approach does not incentivise low-carbon heating uptake, as a heat pump’s higher projected running costs may bring down a house’s EPC. The UK Government’s proposals for a reformed EPC introduce new metrics, including a heating system’s environmental impact. Likewise, in Scotland, new EPC regulations will be rolled out in 2026, with new ratings for fabric, heating system (including both a system’s emissions and its efficiency) and cost.
Passed into law in October 2025, the Renters’ Rights Bill will also place new obligations on English landlords, including an end to Section 21 evictions, registration with a Private Rented Sector Database, a Decent Home Standard, imposing a timeframe on urgent repairs to hazardous homes, and bolstering tenants’ rights against discrimination and unfair practices.
The taxation regime for landlords has also evolved considerably. Since 2017, landlords can no longer declare mortgage interest as a finance cost against their income, but are instead eligible for some tax relief schemes. For example, interest payments on rental mortgages are deductible up to the basic tax rate of 20%. They can also claim relief under the ‘Replacement of Domestic Items’ scheme - but this only covers like-for-like replacements rather than upgrades.
What support can landlords access?
To upgrade their properties, landlords currently have access to a range of grants and funding streams, but this is sometimes means-restricted and varies across the UK. In England and Wales, landlords can access the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), the Energy Company Obligation (ECO, tenant-means-tested) and the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS). In England, the Warm Homes: Local Grant gives access to free energy efficiency upgrades for rented homes with an EPC of D or under. In Scotland, landlords are eligible for the Home Energy Scotland Loan, with 0% loans available for landlords with up to 5 properties and loans at 3.5% APR for landlords with a portfolio of 5 properties or above. To reach its decarbonisation targets, the UK Government has indicated that support for landlords will also be part of its Warm Homes Plan, due to be published in the autumn of 2025.
Our research questions
This changing context lends further relevance and urgency to the problem of decarbonising the rental sector: it is urgent for governments to find the right levers in order to avoid penalising tenants amidst a surge in rent prices and support the rollout of heat pumps across all sections of society.
At this crucial time for the sector, we explored the following questions.
- How do landlords perceive decarbonisation in the private rental sector, and their own role in this process?
- What do they view as the main legislative, systemic and practical barriers or potential enablers to heat decarbonisation in their own properties?
- How do perceptions of decarbonisation and its barriers/enablers vary with respect to landlords' circumstances (eg, motivations, property/tenant types, financial arrangements, etc)?
- How do challenges (and potential solutions) in the private rental sector compare to those in other housing sectors?
We analyse our interviewees’ current approach to decarbonisation and their understanding of the process, before delving into concerns surrounding heat pump installation.
We have separated this into three sections.
- Experiences of decarbonisation
- Response to our hypothetical scenario
- Landlord personas
The following section introduces our participants.
