The NRLA is right — reaching C now is worth more than waiting

The National Residential Landlords Association published a piece arguing that, despite yet another pushback on EPC timelines, landlords who reach band C now put themselves ahead. We agree, and the reason is arithmetic rather than optimism.

The mechanism

Certificates are valid for ten years. A privately rented home must reach a C-equivalent standard by 1 October 2030. A property rated C before 1 October 2029 is treated as compliant until that certificate expires.

So a C lodged in 2026 does not merely satisfy today's requirement — it carries through the deadline without a second assessment and without a second round of work. Wait until 2029 and you are doing the same work under time pressure, in a market where every other landlord wants the same assessors and installers.

Why delays make waiting more tempting and more expensive

Each postponement teaches landlords that deadlines move, so nothing needs doing yet. The trouble is that the two timetables are separate. The thing that keeps slipping is the certificate redesign — pushed to the second half of 2027. The thing that has not slipped is the minimum standard for rented homes.

Confusing the two is the single most expensive mistake available to a landlord this decade.

The London angle

There is a further reason not to leave it. Roughly 60% of privately rented homes sit at D or below, and London's share of solid-walled and electrically heated stock means the work required here is often the harder kind — the kind with lead times, consents and scaffolding rather than a morning in a loft.

Specifically, the electrically heated ex-council flat with old storage heaters is a capital job. If that is your portfolio, 2029 is not a planning horizon. It is a scramble.

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