England & Wales · EPC register × ONS rents · Research
Where EPC upgrades eat the most rental income
Bringing a below-band-C rented home up to standard costs the equivalent of about 8.4 months’ rent — but it ranges from under 3 months in prime London to more than 17 in rural Wales, where upgrade costs are high and rents are low.
Free to cite with attribution · Open Government Licence.
8.4 mo
National median months of rent to bring up to band C
£8,461
Median modelled cost-to-C per below-C home
£1,020/mo
Median ONS mean monthly private rent
Modelled cost-to-band-C per below-C home (EPC Open Data) ÷ ONS mean private rent for the area. A modelled, area-level guide — not a quote for a specific home. Open Government Licence. 316 of 318 England & Wales local authorities joined (two have no ONS rent data).
Cite this
In England & Wales, bringing a below-EPC-band-C rented home up to standard costs a median of 8.4 months' rent — from 2.3 months in Kensington and Chelsea to 17.3 in Powys. The Home Index, 2026-05. Modelled cost-to-C (EPC Open Data) over ONS mean private rents (Open Government Licence).
Free to cite with attribution · Open Government Licence.
Off-gas rural stock meets low rents at one extreme; prime-London rents dwarf the same cost at the other
The hardest-to-treat homes — solid-walled, off-gas, rural — are concentrated in Wales and the North, where rents are lowest. That combination stacks upgrade cost against rental income simultaneously, pushing the months figure above 15 in parts of rural Wales. At the opposite end, prime-London rents are high enough to absorb the same improvement cost in under three months, even though the underlying stock may need similar work.
For local reporters: find your area below — click through for its full report and a citable figure.
| # | Local authority | Months of rent |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Powys | 17.3 mo |
| 2 | Gwynedd | 16.0 mo |
| 3 | Isle of Anglesey | 15.8 mo |
| 4 | Ceredigion | 15.7 mo |
| 5 | Pembrokeshire | 14.8 mo |
| 6 | Carmarthenshire | 14.8 mo |
| 7 | Hartlepool | 14.5 mo |
| 8 | Pendle | 14.3 mo |
| 9 | Burnley | 14.1 mo |
| 10 | East Lindsey | 14.0 mo |
| 11 | Cumberland | 13.8 mo |
| 12 | Hyndburn | 13.6 mo |
| 13 | Denbighshire | 13.6 mo |
| 14 | Northumberland | 13.5 mo |
| 15 | Redcar and Cleveland | 13.2 mo |
| # | Local authority | Months of rent |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kensington and Chelsea | 2.3 mo |
| 2 | Westminster | 2.6 mo |
| 3 | Islington | 2.7 mo |
| 4 | Hammersmith and Fulham | 2.8 mo |
| 5 | Camden | 2.9 mo |
| 6 | Hackney | 3.0 mo |
| 7 | Wandsworth | 3.1 mo |
| 8 | Lambeth | 3.1 mo |
| 9 | Tower Hamlets | 3.2 mo |
| 10 | Southwark | 3.3 mo |
Method & limits
Cost per home is the LAD-level modelled cost-to-band-C (EPC Open Data) divided by the number of below-C dwellings in the LAD — a mean across all below-C homes in the area, not an assessment of any individual property. Rent is the ONS Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR) mean monthly rent for the same local authority district (vintage: 2026-05). Months of rent = cost per home ÷ monthly rent. Caveats: the cost figure is modelled and area-level, not a quotation; the rent is an area mean, not the specific property; the calculation excludes voids, financing costs, and phased works. 316/318 local authorities are ranked — the Isles of Scilly and City of London have no ONS rent coverage and are excluded.