Asking a Landlord for Energy Improvements

Every private tenancy in the UK comes with an Energy Performance Certificate, and that document is the single most useful thing you hold before asking a landlord for insulation, a boiler or better heating. An EPC must be provided whenever a building is advertised for sale or for let to a new tenant¹, and it is the landlord's responsibility to have one, to make it available to prospective tenants, and to give a copy to the person who takes the tenancy². The certificate rates the property from A to G, records how the home is built and heated, and comes with a report listing the improvements that would raise the rating².

The certificate matters because the law attaches consequences to it. In England and Wales, a property rated F or G cannot lawfully be let unless the landlord has registered an exemption, and landlords must not unreasonably refuse a tenant's request for improvements that cost the landlord nothing, for example work paid for by a grant³. That combination, a public rating, a legal minimum, and a rule against refusing free work, is what gives a tenant's request its weight. This page explains how to read the certificate, what to ask for, who can pay for it, and what to do if the landlord says no.

What the certificate tells you before you ask

Before drafting any request, get the certificate and read it properly. It is valid for a maximum of ten years, or until another certificate is commissioned for the same building, whichever comes first⁴, so check the date on the register copy: an assessment done eight or nine years ago may describe heating, glazing or insulation that has since changed. If the property is being rented, the landlord must provide the EPC to the potential tenant⁴, so if you were never given one, that is itself a point to raise, and in Northern Ireland the district council building control team is the contact for advice or for a certificate that has not been made available².

The assessment behind the certificate records specific information about the home⁸:

• dwelling type
• floor area
• construction type
• insulation
• heating
• ventilation
• lighting

That makes it an evidence base as well as a rating. If the certificate says the loft has 100 mm of insulation and no cavity wall insulation, those are the facts a grant installer will ask about, and they are the facts to quote in a letter to the landlord. Alongside the rating, each EPC comes with a report setting out the cost effective measures that could improve the property's energy efficiency, such as low energy bulbs or upgrading insulation².

One point of detail: the Scottish Government confirmed in October 2025 that EPC lodgement fees would rise by £3.40, taking the cost of lodging a domestic EPC to £6.00⁹. That is the registration fee rather than the price of the assessment itself, but it is a reminder that certificates are commissioned and paid for by the owner, not the tenant. If the certificate on the register is out of date, the landlord, not you, is the person who must commission a new one before the property can be advertised again¹.

The importance of an E rating for tenants

The minimum standard rule is the backbone of any request. In England and Wales, the minimum standard of energy efficiency for certain domestic rented property is a rating of E or above³, and no property below that can be rented out unless an exemption applies¹⁰. Guidance for landlords is explicit: if the property's rating is F or G, it must be improved to at least an E¹¹. Landlords may not grant a tenancy to new or existing tenants on an F or G rated property, and must not continue letting a property already let if it sits in those bands, unless a valid exemption is registered³.

The rule has teeth. Building owners who fail to provide EPCs, or who do not include the rating when advertising the building, can be subject to a penalty charge notice of £500 or more⁵. So a tenant renting a band F property is not making a polite request for a favour; they are pointing at a legal requirement the landlord must already be meeting, or an exemption the landlord must have registered and justified.

The exemptions are worth knowing, because a landlord may be relying on one. The recognised categories include: all relevant improvements having been made but the property remaining below E; the cost of relevant improvements exceeding the spending cap; no improvements being possible; expert written advice that wall insulation would harm the fabric or structure of the building; third-party consent being required and refused after reasonable attempts; a RICS registered valuer's report that improvements would reduce the property's market value by more than 5%; and sudden landlord circumstances such as the insolvency of a tenant where the landlord was the guarantor³. Exemptions are time-limited: when one expires, the landlord must try again to improve the property to the minimum level, and may register a further exemption only if the standard still cannot be met¹³.

The position differs across the UK, and it matters which nation the property sits in:

A tenant in Scotland or Northern Ireland cannot lean on the England and Wales band E rule, but the certificate, the recommendations report and the grant routes below still apply.

Reading the recommendations report

The recommendations report is where the practical list of works comes from. An EPC must contain a recommendation report¹⁴, and each certificate's accompanying report sets out the cost effective measures that would improve the property's energy efficiency and its rating². Under the Scottish reforms, a new Property Report will set out potential improvement measures ranked by lowest installation cost and greatest heat saved, together with alternative heating systems and their potential installation and running costs⁹. The legislation behind the Scottish domestic certificate requires information on estimated emissions, estimated energy use, what alternative main heating system could be installed, the estimated emissions from those systems, and their estimated installation and operation costs¹⁵.

Two things follow from that structure. First, the report gives you a ready-made, assessor-signed list of the works that would make the biggest difference, which is far stronger in a letter than your own guess. Second, the report is advisory: implementing the listed measures is not required, as official guidance confirms, though acting on them would improve the building's energy efficiency¹². A landlord is not obliged to carry out every recommendation, but for a band F or G property in England and Wales, the recommendations define the "relevant improvements" the landlord must consider to reach band E³.

If the certificate contains a mistake, for example it records a heating system that has been replaced, raise it with the landlord, since only the owner can commission a fresh assessment. In Northern Ireland, the district council building control team handles EPC advice².

Insulation, heating and ventilation: what tenants most often ask for

The measures that appear most often in requests to landlords are the ones official guidance already expects landlords to think about. In a property rented to tenants, the landlord should¹⁶:

• make sure roof spaces are insulated
• replace draughty, ill fitting windows and doors
• draught proof external doors and windows, but not rooms containing an open-flue gas appliance
• insulate exposed water pipes
• fit the hot water tank with a good quality insulation jacket

Before letting a house, the landlord should also ask a qualified surveyor to check the condition of the property¹⁶. That list is a reasonable baseline to measure any rented home against.

Larger insulation work touches building rules. Making significant changes to thermal elements, meaning walls, roofs or floors, would normally require Building Regulations approval and would require the thermal insulation of the element to be upgraded to a reasonable standard¹⁷. The same principle appears in the guidance covering roofs: renovation works can trigger a requirement to upgrade insulation, with the detail set out in the official guidance on thermal elements and its appendix tables¹⁸. For a tenant, the practical point is that solid insulation work is not a casual job: it needs a competent installer and, usually, Building Regulations approval, which is one reason the landlord's consent and involvement are unavoidable.

Heating is the other common request. Welsh guidance on fitness for human habitation lists controllable heating systems among the matters a landlord must address, and it states:

A heating system that cannot be controlled, or that has been reported as faulty and left unrepaired, is therefore not only an energy problem but a habitability one. Grant schemes add their own insulation conditions: under the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive, if the EPC recommends loft or cavity wall insulation, it must be installed and a new EPC obtained before applying, unless an insulation exemption applies with evidence²⁰. A similar logic, that the certificate drives the insulation requirement, runs through other government schemes.

Funding responsibility: ECO4, the Warm Homes: Local Grant and national schemes

The strongest request a tenant can make is one where the answer costs the landlord nothing. The Energy Company Obligation is now in its fourth iteration, ECO4, and requires medium and large energy suppliers to support energy efficiency improvements for eligible households²¹. The scheme funds insulation, boilers and central heating, and solar and renewable energy technologies²¹, and it targets energy-saving measures including insulation and heating for low-income and vulnerable households⁶.

Eligibility for private tenants has a specific shape. If you rent from a private landlord, the house must have an energy efficiency rating of E, F or G to be eligible, and you must have the owner's permission⁶. The heating work the scheme can install includes²²:

• central heating where there is no boiler or radiators
• replacing storage heaters or coal fires with gas central heating
• replacing a non-condensing combi boiler with a modern combi boiler
• replacing a heat only boiler with a modern combi boiler

There is a restriction on landlords themselves: private landlords can only access ECO to replace an old heating system with a renewable heating system if the existing EPC is an E, F or G²². Landlords may be asked to contribute towards the costs of installed measures, depending on the circumstances of the tenant at the qualifying property²³, and the ECO4 and GBIS Flex routes are open to homeowners, private tenants and landlords alike²³.

The Warm Homes: Local Grant provides free or subsidised home improvements for eligible households, including insulation upgrades, heat-pump installations, solar panels, ventilation and damp-prevention measures²⁴. Privately rented properties with an EPC rating of band D or E can qualify²⁵. For landlords, the funding rule is that they can apply for multiple eligible homes but receive full funding for only one; they must pay half of the upgrade costs for any eligible homes upgraded after the first²⁴.

The England and Wales minimum standard rules also define when a landlord must spend their own money. A recommended measure counts as a relevant energy efficiency improvement where third-party funding covers the full cost, the cost is £3,500 or less including VAT, or a combination of landlord self-funding and third-party funding totals £3,500 or less including VAT³. In other words, the law pushes landlords first towards grant-funded work, and caps the obligation on their own pockets.

How to apply

Official guidance is direct on the first step: tenants should speak to their landlord first and should not make any changes without the landlord's consent⁵. That cuts both ways. It means you cannot install insulation, replace windows or change the heating yourself, and it means the landlord is the person whose agreement any improvement needs. A request is therefore not a formality; it is the only route by which the work happens.

Put the request in writing and anchor it in evidence:

1. Quote the property's EPC rating and the date of the certificate.
2. List the specific recommendations from the report.
3. If the property is rated F or G in England or Wales, state that it falls below the band E minimum required to let the property³.
4. If a grant could fund the work, say so, and name the scheme.

Guidance provides that landlords must not unreasonably refuse tenant requests where the improvements can be funded at no cost to the landlord, for example through grants or third-party funding³. A request that arrives with a funding route attached is materially different from a request that arrives as a complaint.

Where the issue is disrepair rather than improvement, the standard is already set: once the landlord is aware of the need for repairs, they must be carried out in a reasonable time and to a reasonable standard¹⁹. Report faults in writing, keep copies, and date everything. For the broader context of what a landlord must already provide, see landlord duties on energy, heating and home safety and what tenants can and cannot change.

Sources of no cost assistance

You do not have to work out eligibility rules alone. Citizens Advice offers information and support on a range of topics including struggling to pay bills, problems with your energy supplier or supply, saving energy at home and getting a better energy deal²⁶. In England and Wales, Citizens Advice can be reached on 0808 223 1133, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, with a Welsh language line on 0808 223 1144⁷. In England, there is also a dedicated line on 0808 144 8844²⁶.

Local schemes add practical help. Tameside Council's Local Energy Advice Programme, for example, arranges a free telephone advice service covering benefits, money and bill problems, and can refer households for further energy efficiency improvements such as loft or cavity wall insulation and, in some instances, a new boiler²⁷. Councils across the country run similar services, and some operate ECO4 flexible eligibility routes that identify households grant installers can then help, a route covered in more detail on ECO4 Flex referrals. For the wider picture of support with bills, see help for low-income households.

Grounds for refusal by a landlord and the next steps

A landlord can refuse, but the law limits the refusal and, in one important case, the refusal can be the tenant's own. The regulations behind the minimum standard provide that the requirement does not apply at any time when the landlord has, within the preceding five years, been unable to improve the property to the minimum level as a result of the tenant refusing consent to a relevant energy efficiency improvement, or third party consent being refused or granted subject to a condition with which the landlord cannot reasonably comply²⁸. Where a landlord has relied on that exemption in relation to a particular tenant's refusal, the landlord may no longer rely on it once that tenant's tenancy has ended²⁸.

The exemption register is public and evidence-based, and each exemption carries its own proof requirement¹³:

Exemptions expire. After the exemption period ends, the landlord must try again to improve the property's EPC rating to meet the minimum level, and may register a further exemption only if the standard still cannot be achieved¹³. The temporary exemption for a recently became a landlord case lasts six months, after which the landlord must either have improved the property to at least band E or have registered another valid exemption if they intend to continue letting¹³. The devaluation exemption is partial: a landlord relying on a surveyor's report that improvements would cut market value by more than 5% must still install any relevant recommended improvements not covered by that report, unless another exemption applies¹³.

If a landlord refuses a grant-funded, no-cost request without reasonable grounds, the position in guidance is that they must not do so³, and enforcement sits with the weights-and-measures and trading standards authorities that police the minimum standard. Free advice before escalation is available from Citizens Advice⁷, and for related problems, see damp and mould in rented homes and, for England, the changes brought in by the Renters' Rights Act.

What is affected and what stays the same

Successful improvements to a rented home change a household's position in two ways. The immediate one is cost and comfort: insulation, a working boiler and controllable heating cut the energy needed to keep the home warm, which is the whole point of the certificate and its recommendations. The second is a measure of independence within a home you do not own. Grant-funded insulation or a heating upgrade is capital improvement to the fabric that outlasts any single tenancy, and the tenant's role in triggering it, through the EPC, the grant rules and the request itself, is real.

The dependence that remains is equally plain. A tenant cannot commission work, cannot sign off Building Regulations approval for changes to walls, roofs or floors¹⁷, and cannot access most grant routes without the owner's permission⁶. The landlord remains the decision-maker, the grant funder remains the payer, and the energy supplier remains the biller. What the rules give a tenant is leverage: a public rating, a legal minimum in England and Wales, a cap on what a landlord can be forced to spend, and a clear statement that free improvements must not be unreasonably refused³. Used together, with the certificate in one hand and a funding route in the other, that leverage is what turns a request into work on the house.