According to Rightmove’s Greener Homes report, despite the 2020 “policy push” that introduced a minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of E for rental properties and proposed a future EPC C rating, the momentum of energy improvements has “slowed”.
Looking at the rental market, between 2015 and 2025, the proportion of homes with an EPC C rating or above rose from 41% to 52%, while between 2020 and 2025, the proportion only rose from 52% to 58%.
Within the resale market, the proportion of homes with EPC C ratings or higher rose from 29% to 40%, whereas between 2020 and 2025, the proportion went from 40% to 46%.
Rightmove said this “suggests short-term schemes and proposals alone aren’t enough to overcome cost and complexity barriers”.
The report added that 3% of the progress in both markets has come in the post year, and while a “positive sign”, the company said it “remains to be seen if this recent pace of progress will continue”.
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From a regional perspective, around two-thirds of London’s rental market have an EPC rating of C or higher, while at the other end of the spectrum, Wales stands at 48%.
The North West has seen the largest improvement in the last decade with 23% growth, while the South West has had the slowest at a 11% increase.
Green tech increasingly being used as ‘selling point’
Rightmove said for those who can afford to make energy-efficient improvements, such changes are increasingly being used as a “selling point”.
Mentions for heat pumps were up 46%, while solar panels have gone up by 37% year-on-year.
The report added that homes for sale rated EPC A have average annual energy bills of £571, compared with £6,368 for properties rated EPC G.
Rightmove said saving money on energy bills continues to be the “biggest motivator” for making green upgrades, with 83% saying it is their main motivation.
Only 42% of people cited carbon footprint reduction as a key driver of making green changes.
Of those making green changes, approximately 58% said they are motivated to do so for a better quality of life, nearly a third believed green upgrades add value to their home, and almost a fifth felt adding green technology makes their property more attractive to future buyers.
In spite of the availability of grants, 63% of people had no plans to make green upgrades in the next 12 months, and just one in 10 are acting to access grants.
Rightmove said this shows that “while the benefits are clear, even financial incentives alone aren’t enough for widespread uptake”.
Colleen Babcock, property expert at Rightmove, 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.”
