Hughes says Gateway Surveyors have been working in collaboration with lender clients to ensure their mortgage valuation reports capture the EPC ratings and the Standard Assessment Procedure score (SAP).

This follows government proposals to enforce a compulsory EPC rating of C on new tenancies by December 2025, and on all rented properties by December 2028.

Alongside this, lenders, banks and building societies are all working towards becoming carbon neutral by the 2050 target date. 

Hughes explains that surveyors are required to follow each lender’s bespoke guidance and their approach to EPC reporting. 

If a lender requests that the EPC information be included within the valuation report the valuer will obtain the property energy performance rating from the government website.

The performance rating will be reviewed alongside lender guidance to establish if the property should be declined or valued less until remedial works have been completed to update the property to satisfactory standards.

The new EPC certificate will need to be supplied to the valuer to prove the remedial works have been completed and the property meets the lender’s criteria.

However, Hughes says: “This approach has caused some concern for landlords and property owners alike as this will in some scenarios result in remedial works, which could cost up to £10,000 depending on the severity of the works that are required.”

“Some landlords and property owners will need to use private savings to pay for the works or alternatively source additional funds through a further advance or increased rental costs to the end tenants,” he adds. 

The housing stock across England & Wales varies with regards to performance ratings. The median score was 66 in England and 64 in Wales which is equivalent to a band D.

Yorkshire, Humber & the West Midlands resulted in the lowest average scores at 65 and London had the highest at 68.

Last month, the Building Societies Association head of mortgage and housing policy Paul Broadhead said the biggest barrier for homeowners making energy efficient improvements to their property was meeting the initial upfront costs (50%).

Other factors included taking too long to recover the cost (46%), and being unsure about how much money would be saved as a result of the changes (40%).  

Broadhead explained: “If we are to galvanise the current consumer appetite for reducing energy use and retrofitting their homes and turn it into action, we need a coordinated approach across all the stakeholders in the housing market.”