Landlords offering a bills-included rental could dramatically increase their profit margins by improving its energy efficiency.

EPC and energy efficiency platform epIMS reports that 14% of all rental properties on the market offer the cost of bills included within the monthly asking rent, an increase of 57% in the last year.

It analysed energy bills and found that the average property with an EPC D rating has an average energy bill of £2,513 but that upgrading to a C would reduce this cost by 29% or £717 per year.

Upgrading from an E rating to a C would cut the average energy bill by 48% or £1,685 per year, while a landlord with an F rated property could reduce their bill by 61% or £2,838 per year. For those with the worst rated EPC rating of G, improving their property to a C rating would save £4,240 per year, cutting their energy bill by 70% - a potential saving of more than £21,000 over the next five years.

Radical changes

COO Craig Cooper (pictured) says landlords have been hit by a string of legislative changes designed to dent the profit margins of their buy-to-let portfolio, so they could be forgiven for viewing the mandatory EPC C rating as yet another layer of unnecessary red tape to adhere to by 2030.

However, he adds: “The good news is that you don’t need to completely overhaul your property to achieve an EPC C rating, and we regularly find that it can be accomplished with one or two minor adjustments, rather than the radical changes often touted by the government.”