Green gains slow in rental market despite policy pushes

UK homes are getting greener, but renters aren’t seeing faster improvements despite government pushes to clean up the rental sector, new data shows.

Rightmove’s 2025 Greener Homes Report reveals that while rental properties are generally more energy efficient than resale homes, new laws and proposals haven’t sped things up. Progress in the rental market has slowed since the 2020 policy push, which introduced a minimum EPC E rating and proposed a future EPC C requirement.

Over the past five years, the share of rental homes rated EPC C or above crept up from 52% to 58% — half the rate of the previous five years. The resale market shows a similar slowdown, rising from 40% to 46%. Only 3% of that progress happened in the past year, offering a glimmer of hope, but momentum remains fragile.

Regional disparities are clear: London leads the rental sector with 66% of properties at EPC C or above, while Wales lags on 48%. Over the past decade, the North West has made the biggest gains (+23%), while the South West trails (+11%).

The report suggests that short-term policies alone aren’t enough to overcome cost and complexity barriers in making UK rental homes truly energy efficient.

Mentions of eco-tech in property listings are on the rise, with heat pumps up 46% and solar panels up 37% year-on-year. The difference in energy bills is stark: EPC A homes average £571 a year, compared with £6,368 for EPC G properties.

Saving money is the main driver, with 83% of homeowners citing lower bills as their top motivation. Cutting carbon footprints is also a factor for 42%, while 58% say green upgrades improve quality of life, 30% see them as adding value, and 19% believe eco features make their home more attractive to buyers.

But despite the availability of government grants, 63% of people have no plans to make green upgrades in the next twelve months, and just one in ten (11%) are acting to access grants. This shows that while the benefits are clear, even financial incentives alone aren’t enough for widespread uptake.

Rightmove’s Colleen Babcock added: “Policy ambition hasn’t translated into real-world acceleration. We might have expected green improvements to speed up in the rental sector following policy pushes, but the data shows progress over the past five years has been slower than the previous five.

“For landlords, the challenge is balancing compliance with cost and potential value appreciation, and for renters, it’s about finding homes that deliver real savings. Energy efficiency isn’t just good for the planet, it’s good for the pocket too, and making it easier to achieve will be key to unlocking faster change.”