In December 2012 61% of landlords said they had no properties with an Energy Performance Certificate rating of F or G, an increase of 11% on the year before.
Ian Potter, managing director of ARLA, said: “EPCs have attracted considerable scrutiny in the past but it would appear that landlords are now paying increased attention to the efficiency of their properties.”
This rise in the ownership of energy efficient rental properties could be down to upgrades of older properties or the sale of lower-rated properties.
As well as possessing fewer energy inefficient properties the number of respondents who said they didn’t know what bracket their property fell into fell by 12% year-on-year.
ARLA claimed this added awareness of the EPC rating of their properties is a clear indicator that landlords have been spurred on to take a closer interest in energy performance.
And it said another potential side effect of this increased concern is growing awareness of the government’s Green Deal which was launched on 28 January.
At the end of 2012, 58% of landlords said they were aware of the government’s proposal for improving energy performance in the private rented sector, compared to 48% in 2011.
Landlords’ awareness of the Green Deal outstrips that of the general public with a recent YouGov poll claiming that 4 in 5 had not heard of it.
Potter said: “This understanding is complimented by rising awareness of the split incentive offered by the government’s Green Deal proposal for the private rented sector. However whether this awareness translates into uptake remains to be seen.”
He added: “Increasingly savvy tenants are asking to see a property’s EPC or even ask about previous bills therefore it is prudent for landlords to have a clear picture of the performance of their properties.”
