Residents living in the pretty seaside town of Porthleven, Cornwall, say that pressure to get an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) on old houses is having a negative impact on their community.
According to reports, the pressure means that landlords are either turning these houses into rental properties or selling the properties altogether.
Locals in Porthleven said the problem partly stemmed from Government legislation that requires privately rented domestic properties to have an EPC rating of E or above.
In contrast, holiday lets don’t require this minimum rating and in Cornish towns, some cottages only get F or G ratings.
Speaking to CornwallLive, locals have said that the EPC policy is having a detrimental impact on the community.
Chairman of the Porthleven Food Festival, Alec Short said it wasn’t the fault of “greedy landlords” but instead it was the Government’s policy causing the issue.
Mr Short explained: “The landlords have been forced into turning their homes into holiday rentals versus letting out to local people because of Cornwall Council’s EPC policy.”
Mr Short added that the policy was “actively causing the massive shortage of rentals to people in desperate need of housing in Cornwall”. These views were echoed by the Mayor of Porthleven, Mike Toy, who is planning to stand for Cornwall Council in 2025.
Mr Toy claimed: “EPC doesn’t do anybody any favours, it just seems to be a box-ticking exercise for climate and zero carbon. I think they’ve pushed it too far. No costings have been done on how it will affect people. Our housing stock is mostly granite, cob buildings and very old stock, so it’s very difficult to bring it up to these EPC levels. This is the problem.
“You get a row of terrace houses – old fishermen’s or miner’s cottages – built in the 19th century and you can’t do anything to them. You can insulate the roofs and put in double glazing, but that’s about it.
“It’s very difficult for local people in Porthleven to find any sort of accommodation, especially with Coastline being our main supplier of houses in the village for rent. Once they’ve sold it on the open market, it’s gone. It’s not just Porthleven, it’s all coastal towns and villages in Cornwall – they’re all being hollowed out, and this EPC rating is not helping.”
The issues in Porthleven come after the Government announced it wanted all tenanted properties to have an EPC level C by 2030.
However, CEO of charity Coastline Housing Allister Young warned: “Some of the properties that we do sell are physically not able to meet the required EPC level by 2030 without significant upgrades, but this is only about one in 20 of the homes that we sell, as our preferred option is to invest in homes and retain them.”
In response, a spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: “Regulation is our responsibility and we are proactive in ensuring landlords meet their energy efficiency obligations rather than leaving tenants to shoulder the burden. As a result, we have contacted more than 350 landlords and letting agents in the last 12 months and continue to raise awareness of the minimum standards.
“Where properties fail to meet the standard we offer support to landlords through our partnership with Community Energy Plus (CEP). They tailor advice on the most appropriate and cost-effective improvements, as well as explaining the various funding streams available to help fund improvements.”
They added: “On our social housing stock we have a plan to invest £200m over the next eight years to improve our council homes. The funding will be spent on improvements including new windows, doors, boilers, bathrooms and kitchens.
“Alongside this we will also be spending £83m over the next eight years to deal with ongoing maintenance including issues such as damp and mould.”
