We caught up with Chris Grant MRICS - CEO EPC Choice for his take on what’s essential to know given the publication of the Government’s Warm Homes Plan.
The publication of the Government’s Warm Homes Plan (January 2026) alongside proposals to reform the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) regime marks a fundamental shift in how energy efficiency will be regulated, measured and enforced across the private rented sector (PRS) in England and Wales.
The Warm Homes Plan commits £15 billion of public investment to upgrade up to five million homes by 2030, with a clear intention to use regulation as well as incentives to drive improvement. For the PRS, this confirms that Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) will be strengthened and enforced more robustly.
MEES has now been confirmed: all privately rented properties must meet the equivalent of EPC band C by 1 October 2030 unless a valid exemption applies. This applies to all tenancies, new and existing. Properties already achieving EPC C will be treated as compliant until their certificate expires, and improvements made from October 2025 onwards will count towards compliance and cost caps. Alongside this, EPC reform will change what EPCs measure. Rather than a single cost-based rating, future EPCs will use four headline performance metrics generated by the new Home Energy Model.
Fabric performance will assess the efficiency of walls, roofs, floors, windows and airtightness and is expected to be the primary compliance metric. Heating system performance will evaluate the efficiency and carbon impact of the installed heating system. Smart readiness will measure a property’s ability to integrate smart controls, flexible tariffs and modern energy systems. Energy cost will remain visible but will no longer mask poor underlying performance. MEES compliance is expected to require EPC C across fabric performance and at least one additional metric. This makes compliance more technical and places greater importance on proper assessment and planning. To ensure proportionality, the Government proposes a £10,000 cost cap per property, including grant funding, expanded ten-year exemptions, and a low-value property exemption where costs exceed 10% of market value.
For agents and property managers, these reforms change landlord advice fundamentally. EPCs must be interpreted strategically, improvements must be metric-specific, and portfolio-level planning becomes essential. Energy performance will increasingly affect valuation, lettability and tenant demand. At EPC Choice, we support agents and landlords across England and Wales by interpreting EPCs under the new framework, identifying cost-effective routes to compliance, advising on exemptions and funding, and supporting long-term MEES planning.
Energy efficiency is now a core component of landlord compliance and asset strategy. The question is no longer if landlords must act, but how intelligently they do so.
