Future Homes Hub and the Good Homes Alliance have published new guidance telling landlords and letting teams that low-energy rental homes will underperform if tenants are not properly shown how to use them. The groups said renters moving into all-electric homes with heat pumps, solar PV, mechanical ventilation and smart tariffs need more support before and after move-in, not just a brief handover on the day they collect the keys.
The newly released guide is aimed at landlords, build-to-rent operators, lettings staff and managing agents, and it reframes tenant communication as a core part of building performance. Rather than treating the process as a one-off explanation, the guidance says resident support should run from marketing and allocation through to repairs, maintenance and future tenancies.
For landlords, that matters now because more rental stock is being pushed toward better energy performance at the same time as heating systems and controls become harder to explain. A low-energy home can still generate complaints, higher bills and tenant frustration if residents do not understand how to run it properly.
Why the new guidance goes beyond EPC compliance
The new guidance from the Good Homes Alliance and Future Homes Hub sets out six stages of the renter journey: lettings and allocation, pre-handover, handover, aftercare and future tenants, repairs and maintenance, and continuous improvement. Its central point is simple: the job is not finished when a property meets an energy target. Landlords and agents also need a repeatable system for helping tenants use the home as intended.
That is a useful shift in emphasis. Much of the landlord energy debate has focused on capital cost, retrofit deadlines and EPC ratings. The new guidance instead looks at operational performance – whether tenants know how to use heat pumps, ventilation systems and time-of-use tariffs in a way that keeps homes comfortable and bills under control.
This follows Landlord Knowledge’s recent report on HMOs and EPC upgrades, which showed landlords continuing to spend on energy work ahead of tougher standards. It also builds on Landlord Knowledge’s coverage of higher bills in poor-EPC rentals, which highlighted the cost pressure tied to inefficient stock. The latest guidance adds the missing practical point: spending on upgrades is only part of the job if the tenant experience is poor once those systems are in place.
What the guide is telling landlords to change
Future Homes Hub and the Good Homes Alliance said landlords should prepare tenants before move-in with simple videos, QR codes and clear explanations rather than trying to cover everything at handover. The guidance also suggests using maintenance visits as a chance to reinforce key messages and making sure each new tenant gets the same quality of onboarding as the first occupier.
That matters because many of the complaints tied to modern low-energy homes are not always defects in the equipment itself. They can stem from poor explanation, confusing controls or unrealistic assumptions about what tenants already know. For landlords, that creates avoidable void risk and reputational damage, especially in blocks or portfolios where resident reviews carry weight.
There is also a wider warning here for the private rented sector. If landlords install newer systems only to leave tenants confused, the policy case for more energy upgrades becomes harder to defend. In other words, the sector’s credibility on retrofit will increasingly depend on day-to-day management, not just capital spend.
What this means for landlords
- If you’re letting upgraded stock: build a clear pre-move-in explanation pack for heating, ventilation and tariffs.
- Watch for: repeat tenant questions that show systems are not being explained clearly enough.
- If you use agents or block managers: check they can explain the technology in plain English.
- For future tenancies: treat every re-let as a fresh onboarding exercise, not a one-off handover.
- Bottom line: energy efficiency gains can be lost if tenants do not know how to run the home.
Editor’s view
Landlords tend to focus on what they have paid to install, not on what tenants are actually able to use. That is a mistake. A smarter handover is cheaper than a complaint, a void or a reputation for low-energy homes that feel harder to live in than the old ones.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 03 August 2026
Sources: Good Homes Alliance, Future Homes Hub
Related reading: Energy Efficiency Rules for Landlords: EPC C by 2030 and What You Need to Know
🏠 EPC Rules for Landlords: What You Need to Know
Minimum EPC C required by 2030 – new assessment rules from late 2027
