Buy to Let EPC Mortgage that can improve Energy Performance Certificate from an E to C rating.
How mortgages can increase your Buy to Let EPC Mortgage and property value
I suspect nearly every Landlord in England and Wales is acutely aware of the momentum to make let properties “greener”. To incentivise the move a number of Lenders have had dual pricing on Buy to Let Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Mortgage products with the normal divide being between “A to C” and “D to E” EPC ratings, with the former typically shaving of 10 basis points off the interest rate. This is all well and good, but these products offer no practical assistance in moving your property energy efficient up from “E to C”; it just rewards you if you have taken the steps yourself. However, there is movement on this front and this article points to a new breed of mortgage products that can increase your buy-to-let energy efficiency and property value. First let’s look at the main ways to improve a property’s energy efficiency:
How do properties get a greener energy efficiency rating?
Here are some of the key areas that may improve your property energy efficiency rating:
- Insulation in: cavity walls, suspended floors, solid walls, roofs, and floors.
- Solar power: photovoltaic solar panels, thermal hot water, and solar battery storage
- Heating: under floor heating; programming timers/zone heating temperature controls; thermostatic radiator valves; fan coiled radiators; biomass pellet boiler. And, if you have the space, air-source heat pumps and ground-source heat pumps.-
- Windows and doors: draught-proofing; “A-rated” double or triple glazed windows; secondary glazed windows and insulated external doors.
There is also a useful Government website that can provide recommendations on your own particular property type: https://www.gov.uk/improve-energy-efficiency
If you are unsure of what energy efficiency rating your property has, visit to check: https://www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate
Buy to Let EPC Mortgage can help improve buy-to-let energy efficiency
Virgin Money – Personal Name Buy to Let EPC Mortgage Solutions
Essentially, this is a large cashback product with the proceeds earmarked for energy efficiency home improvements such as installing insulation or solar panels, battery storage, or heat pumps to your properties.
How it works is to remortgage to Virgin and they will release a sum of money to be used directly on home improvements. This cashback can help you avoid additional borrowing, which could save on interest over the term. You should discuss the appropriate time to remortgage with your professional Mortgage Adviser, such as Niche Advice.
The Good: The top cashback can be very generous e.g. up to £10,000 (as at 22/3/25).
The Bad: Nothing is “free,” so the interest rate payable builds in the upfront giveaway, so it is priced higher than their standard range products. The mortgage size dictates the cashback level, with a minimum £150,000, which may price some customers out, and you have to take a 5-year fix.
Fleet Mortgages – Persional name and Limited Company Buy to Let EPC Mortgage Solutions
This product goes directly to the heart of upgrading energy efficiency from “D to E” to “C or above”.Again it is a cashback incentive but unlike the Virgin product which releases their cashback upfront at Completion the Fleet offer is aimed at Landlords who have taken a new mortgage on a “D to E” energy efficiency ratedpropertywith them i.e. completed and during the fixed term have upgraded the property to a “C or above”. You must prove the upgrade by obtaining a new EPC certificate listing on the government website.
The Good: The impact, if anything, on their product range pricing appears negligible. It’s a freebie!
The Bad: Whilst the concept is good, the cashback is small at £1,000 (as of 22/3/25), and this is likely to help towards going green rather than offering the means to get there. It’s also questionable how often the feature forms part of the sales process or product selection as it’s a post-completion incentive.
Conclusion
Whilst we applaud these Buy-to-let Lenders for providing these practical steps to help Landlords transition towards a greener buy-to-let stock, they are small in numbers, so we call out for others to step up and not solely concentrate on rewarding those who already have properties that have made the Energy Performance Certificate to an “C or above” grade.
