If you let a house or flat in England or Wales, it will need an EPC rating of C or better for every tenancy from 1 October 2030. The government confirmed that in January 2026 alongside the Warm Homes Plan. The earlier plan for a 2028 deadline on new tenancies was dropped, so there is one date and it applies to everything you let.
What is actually required
The standard is C or equivalent. A property that gets to C on a current style EPC before 1 October 2029 counts as compliant until that certificate expires. Below that, you have to carry out improvements up to a cost cap, which the government has set at £10,000 per property, down from the £15,000 it first proposed and up from the £3,500 that applied under the old E standard. Spending on qualifying improvements from 1 October 2025 counts towards it, and homes worth under £100,000 get a lower cap. If you spend to the cap and still cannot reach C you register an exemption, which lasts ten years. The maximum fine for letting a non compliant property is being set at £30,000 per property, per breach.
The EPC itself is changing
New style EPCs based on the Home Energy Model are on the way, with several metrics rather than the single A to G band, and the government wants landlords to meet a fabric standard first. The exact band boundaries were still being consulted on in 2026 and the secondary legislation is expected in 2027, so the fine detail is not yet law. What is settled is the direction. Insulation, draught proofing and glazing score well under any version of the new metrics. Bolt on measures like a new boiler do less than people expect.
What it means for a Liverpool terrace
Most of the private rented stock in L15, L17, L7 and L8 is pre 1919 solid wall. A typical D rated terrace gets to C with a mix of loft top up to 270mm, a modern condensing boiler with proper controls if it has not got one, low energy lighting throughout, and either internal wall insulation to the front and rear or external insulation to the rear if the front is a conservation area. Solid floors and single glazing are the expensive items and often the ones a cost cap exemption ends up covering.
What to do this year
Do not wait for 2029. Contractors and assessors will be booked solid and prices will rise. Get the current EPC looked at now, find out which measures move the rating and what they cost, and plan the work over the next two or three tenancy changes rather than in one panic. Our EPC to C plan does exactly that for £45 on the back of any EPC we produce, and the Retrofit Assessment is the route to funding where the household qualifies.
Dates and figures above are from the government’s January 2026 response and the current consultation documents. Check the position before relying on it, because the secondary legislation is not yet in force. Checked 20/09/2026.
Act Now Energy Ltd is ECMK accredited (Reg. ECMK307661) and TrustMark registered for retrofit assessment (TMLN 4110101), led by a Chartered Construction Manager (MCIOB), covering Liverpool, Merseyside and the North West. Call 0777 888 80 80 or email info@actnowenergy.co.uk.
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