30 March 2023

How refurbishment could help landlord boost EPC rating

By Liza Campion, Head of Corporate Accounts, Precise Mortgages

Forewarned is forearmed, or so the saying goes.

When the government announced back in 2020 that all newly rented properties must have an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of C or above from 2025 onwards, landlords were given plenty of notice about getting their houses up to the required standard.

According to the latest research from BVA BDRC however, while more than nine out of 10 landlords say they’re aware of the legislation1, four in 10 properties still have an EPC rating below C2.

With the estimated costs of reaching the EPC C rating now standing at around £8,3003, many landlords may be looking at the costs involved, deciding that buy to let’s no longer for them and cashing in and selling their properties.

In fact over a half of landlords say they’re now looking to sell properties with an EPC rating of D or below4, while more than two thirds of landlords say they’d be put off from buying a non-compliant property5.

When you consider there are more than 4.6 million privately rented households in the UK6, that’s a lot of homes in need of improvement work that’ll be coming on to the market in the future. It means there could well be opportunities for investors who’re prepared to put in the hard yards to bring new properties up to the minimum EPC C rating before letting them out.

If you’re approached by a customer looking for finance to enable them to carry out improvement work to a property before letting it out, did you know that refurbishment buy to let could be the solution?

Precise Mortgages’ refurbishment buy to let offering gives landlords a choice of three exit products, including an option for those who carry out refurbishment of a property already rated EPC C or above, or if awarded a C rating following improvement work

There’s a choice of 2 or 5-year fixed rate products with rates from 5.59% and up to 80% LTV, and we’ll accept applications from personal ownership, limited company, HMO/MUB and limited company HMO/MUB landlords.

Customers can choose between serviced or retained interest payments during the refurbishment stage, and have the peace of mind of knowing that the rate on offer is the rate they’ll get after the post-works valuation.

We’ve also made the process of applying for it as easy as possible. Brokers only need to submit one application, which we’ll key in for them, and will receive support from one expert underwriter throughout the whole case. One valuer will assess the property (where possible) and one conveyancer can act on the application. Finally, two offers will be issued – one for the bridging element and one for the buy to let mortgage plus there’s two procuration fee payments.

Download our refurbishment buy to let product guide (2.19mb pdf) to find out more.

If you’ve got a question about placing a case, speak with your business development manager, call our dedicated support service on 0800 116 4385 or contact us on Live Chat.

Sources:

1 BVA BDRC Landlords Panel Report Q4 2022 (slide 54)

2 BVA BDRC Landlords Panel Report Q4 2022 (slide 53)

3 BVA BDRC Landlords Panel Report Q4 2022 (slide 57)

4 BVA BDRC Landlords Panel Report Q4 2022 (slide 60)

5 BVA BDRC Landlords Panel Report Q4 2022 (slide 58)

6 https://www.statista.com/statistics/286444/england-number-of-private-rented-households/#:~:text=Number%20of%20private%20rented%20households%20in%20England%202000%2D2022&text=From%20two%20million%20in%202000,reached%204.61%20million%20in%202022.

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