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Compliance and safety
Can a landlord let a property rated F or G? The EPC band E minimum, the £3,500 cap, the exemptions and the penalties
A rented home in England and Wales must reach EPC band E unless an exemption is registered. The £3,500 spending cap, six exemptions and what a breach costs.
A landlord client sends over a new instruction and the EPC says F. Can you market it? Under the Domestic Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) Regulations, a private rented home in England and Wales has to reach EPC band E or above before it can be let, unless the landlord has registered a valid exemption. The guidance from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero sets out the rules, and they decide whether the property goes on the market this week or waits for works.
Which lets are covered
The government guidance says the rules cover domestic private rented property let on an assured tenancy, a regulated tenancy or a domestic agricultural tenancy, where the property is legally required to have an EPC. In practice that is almost every residential let an agency handles. If the EPC shows F or G, the landlord must not grant a new tenancy or continue an existing one until the property reaches E or an exemption is in place.
The £3,500 spending cap
A landlord does not have to spend without limit. The guidance says landlords are not required to spend more than £3,500 including VAT on energy efficiency improvements. If the property still sits at F or G after the landlord has made all the improvements that can be made for up to £3,500, the landlord can register a high-cost exemption.
That means the useful question for an agent is how much has already been spent. If the landlord has paid £2,150 including VAT for loft insulation and new heating controls, there is £1,350 left to spend before the cap is reached. Only once the money runs out, or every relevant measure is done, does an exemption become available. Keep the invoices: the exemption register asks for evidence.
The exemptions, and how long each lasts
Exemptions are registered on the PRS Exemptions Register. They are not automatic. The guidance lists these, with their lengths:
| Exemption | How long it lasts |
|---|---|
| All relevant improvements made, still below E | 5 years |
| High cost (no improvement can be made for £3,500 or less) | 5 years |
| Wall insulation that would harm the property | 5 years |
| Third-party consent refused (for example a lender or planning) | 5 years, or until the tenancy ends where the tenant refused |
| Property devaluation by more than 5% | 5 years |
| Recently became a landlord | 6 months |
An exemption belongs to the landlord and the property. When it expires, the property has to be looked at again. Put the expiry date in your compliance calendar the day the exemption is registered, in the same place as the gas and EICR dates; our lettings compliance date tracker is built for that.
What a breach costs
Local authorities enforce the rules. The guidance sets these maximum penalties per property:
- up to £2,000 and/or a publication penalty for renting out a non-compliant property for less than 3 months;
- up to £4,000 and/or a publication penalty for renting it out for 3 months or more;
- up to £1,000 for false or misleading information on the exemptions register;
- up to £2,000 for failing to comply with a compliance notice.
The guidance caps the total at £5,000 per property. So a landlord who lets an F-rated house for four months and then ignores the council's compliance notice faces up to £4,000 plus £2,000, which would be £6,000, but the most that can be charged is £5,000. A publication penalty means the breach can be published on the register, which other landlords and tenants can see.
The agent's check before marketing
- Read the EPC band and its expiry date. An EPC lasts ten years; if it has expired, a new one is needed before marketing.
- If the band is F or G, ask whether an exemption is already registered, and look it up.
- If not, ask what has been spent on improvements and get the invoices. Work out the spend left under £3,500.
- Agree in writing whether works will be done before the let, or whether the landlord is registering an exemption.
- Do not market until one of those is true.
Our new tenancy checklist puts the EPC before the advert for this reason, and the yearly renewals checklist catches the exemption expiry on managed stock.
Where an AI assistant fits
Overlyft builds AI staff who join your lettings team and read each new EPC, flag an F or G band, and draft the landlord email asking about spend and exemptions, for a person to check and send. The judgement about whether to market stays with the agent.
This is general information about England and Wales, not legal advice. Check the current guidance and the property's own records before you let it.
Where this comes from: GOV.UK (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero), Domestic private rented property: minimum energy efficiency standard, landlord guidance (band E minimum, £3,500 including VAT cap, exemption periods, penalty amounts, £5,000 maximum per property). Page last updated 5 May 2026; read 7 October 2026.
AEO Lookup editorial team
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