The Telegraph reports on warnings from the Country Land and Business Association that Government climate change policies could trigger a ‘mass sale’ of rural rental properties, intensifying the countryside's housing crisis

The report predicts that landlords will be forced to sell more than 50,000 rural properties amid Government plans to raise energy performance certificate ratings for rental properties, equivalent to one in eight rental properties in the countryside.

The minimum energy efficiency rating for rental properties will increase to Band C from B and E from 2025 for new tenancies and 2028 for existing tenancies, in a bid to cut down carbon emissions. However, the costs of converting properties could be prohibitive for rural landlords whose houses are more likely to be older, detached and off the gas grid.

For example, a rural landlord would need to increase the rent by six per cent every year for 15 years to cover a £10,000 spend on improving an EPC rating, which combined with an already expensive rural market would make many more properties ‘unaffordable and unrentable’, exasperated by a surge in demand for rural rentals as renters move from cities searching for more space.

The sector has been under pressure with the supply of rural rentals falling 48 per cent in the 12 months to October, pushing rents up 5.5 per cent.

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The Telegraph - 50,000 rural landlords to sell up due to climate change rules