Landlords are continually put under the cosh by the heavy handed energy efficiency dictates, however the newest report from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) slams the government’s ‘one size fits all’ approach as highly inapt for the PRS.

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The ONS report highlights that three fifths of assessed homes in England and Wales fell below the EPC targets with the age of properties being the biggest factor of energy inefficiency, more so than type of property and choice of fuel.

The greater majority of homes built in England and Wales from 2012 onwards will have one of the top EPC ratings than their older counterparts, whereas older homes built before1900 that were assessed only 12 per cent in England had high energy efficiency ratings and just 8 per cent of Welsh homes built before 1900.

Obviously how old a ‘home’ does affect EPC ratings as building regulations and techniques have metamorphosised over decades, plus the age old with wear and tear problems.

Summing up overall, less than half of assessed homes in England – 42 per cent and Wales – 37 per cent, have EPC ratings of C or higher.

An industry spokesman, says: “The UK government must take these findings seriously and understand the huge challenge that many landlords face to upgrade property which introduces a real risk of many exiting the sector. To navigate this, they must provide funding and support based on much broader considerations.”

The ONS comments: “Controlling for other factors, the age of a dwelling has the biggest impact on its energy efficiency, with newer homes much more likely than older homes to have an EPC rating of C or above.

“To understand the biggest influences on a home’s energy efficiency, we have used a logistic regression model to assess the impact of different characteristics in isolation (or controlling for other variables). The data used in this analysis only covers homes for which an EPC exists, and therefore doesn't reflect the entire housing stock.

“Newer homes are the most likely to be energy efficient. Almost all dwellings in England and Wales built since 2012 have an EPC rating of C or above, and as such the odds of a house of this age having a high rating are extremely high compared with houses built earlier.