The Committee on Fuel Poverty has told ministers to ringfence Warm Homes funding for landlords, warning that the private rented sector will need targeted support if England is to hit its EPC C deadline without losing homes from the market.
The intervention comes from the Committee on Fuel Poverty in its response to the Warm Homes Fund consultation. The committee said lower-income landlords should be prioritised first, and warned that the fund will need proper targeting, governance and landlord engagement if it is to make a real difference for fuel-poor tenants.
For landlords, the message is simple: the pressure to upgrade is not easing, but the shape of government support still matters. If ministers follow the committee’s advice, smaller landlords and harder-to-upgrade homes could move closer to the front of the queue for retrofit help rather than being left to absorb the bill alone.
Committee says private landlords need targeted support
The Committee on Fuel Poverty said the Warm Homes Fund could play an important role in the private rented sector if it is directed at the right parts of the market. In its response, the committee said landlords on lower incomes should be targeted first because they may otherwise be unable to carry out the work needed to meet minimum standards.
That matters because the government is trying to push more rental homes to EPC C by 2030, while also relying on landlords to keep supplying stock in a market already under strain. The committee’s response said the sector is too fragmented for a one-size-fits-all scheme, and called for enough resource to make the fund accessible and properly focused.
It also said the fund should back proactive landlord engagement and look at bespoke incentives for the sector. In practice, that points to a more landlord-specific design than a broad retrofit scheme that simply assumes private owners will find a way to fund works themselves.
What the funding fight means for EPC C plans
The row over support is not just about grants. It is about whether ministers can tighten standards without pushing smaller landlords out of older or lower-yielding stock. Landlord Knowledge has already reported that ministers insist the EPC C target is fair for landlords, but the advisory committee’s response shows the pressure inside government-linked bodies to match that target with real financial help.
NRLA has made a similar case, calling for a package that combines lender support, grants and tax incentives. The body said the scheme needs to recognise the differences between small and large landlords, as well as the added barriers facing leaseholder landlords in blocks.
This follows Landlord Knowledge’s March report on rural landlords facing EPC upgrade bills above annual rental income, which highlighted how quickly the economics can turn against lower-rent property. The latest intervention suggests concern about that problem is spreading beyond landlord groups and into official advisory channels.
Landlords will now be watching two things closely: whether the final Warm Homes design includes money specifically aimed at the private rented sector, and whether ministers accept that lower-income landlords may need different treatment from larger portfolio investors.
For now, the committee has sharpened the argument that EPC policy cannot just be about targets and deadlines. It also has to deal with who pays, which homes get helped first, and what happens if support arrives too late.
Landlords can track the committee’s position through the Committee on Fuel Poverty’s government page, while the wider debate over retrofit deadlines is likely to intensify as Warm Homes funding is finalised.
What this means for landlords
- If you own older or lower-yielding stock: targeted grant support may become more important than any headline EPC deadline.
- Watch for: the final Warm Homes funding structure and whether smaller landlords are explicitly prioritised.
- Bottom line: the direction of travel on EPC C is unchanged, but the fight over who gets support is still open.
Editor’s view
The committee has put its finger on the weak point in current EPC policy. Ministers can keep saying the target is fair, but that argument will not hold for long if support is too broad, too slow or too thin to reach the landlords who actually need it.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 15 June 2026
Sources: Committee on Fuel Poverty, NRLA
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