A report by Rightmove has found that progress in improving home energy efficiency has halved over the past five years compared to the previous five years, despite a strong push from the government.
The real estate website analyzed the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings of 30 million homes for sale or rent this year and combined them with insights from survey respondents to form the report.
Rightmove said that despite the 2020 policy push to introduce minimum EPC E requirements for rental properties and proposals for future EPC C mandates, the latest five-year view shows the pace of improvement has almost halved.
In the five years to 2020, the proportion of rental housing with an EPC grade C or above increased from 41% to 52%, a jump of 11 percentage points.
Over the past five years, from 2020 to 2025, this proportion has risen by only a further 6 percentage points, from 52% to 58%.
Progress in the owner-occupied sector follows a similar pattern, but the number of homes rated C or better remains lower than the rental market.
Rightmove found that 46% of homes currently listed for sale met this criteria.
The report says the financial case for increased efficiency is compelling.
The research found that homes for sale with an EPC rating of A have average annual energy bills of £571, while homes with a G rating have average energy bills of £6,368.
However, the report highlights a huge knowledge gap as 63% of tenants and 50% of homeowners do not know the rating of their property, although 84% say EPCs are important.
The report also highlights differences in progress across regions.
In the rental market, London leads the way, with 66% of properties rated EPC Grade C or above, while Wales lags behind, with only 48%.
Colleen Babcock, property expert at Rightmove, said: “Policy ambitions have yet to translate into real-world acceleration.
“We had expected that green improvements in the rental industry would accelerate driven by policy, but data shows that progress over the past five years has been slower than in the previous five years.
She added: “For landlords the challenge is balancing compliance with costs and potential value gain, while for renters the challenge is finding properties that offer real cost savings.
“Energy efficiency is not only good for the planet, it’s also good for people’s pockets, and making it more accessible will be key to achieving faster change.”
