Domestic MEES, England and Wales
What does it cost to improve a rented home's EPC rating?
There is no published price for an EPC upgrade, because the cost depends entirely on which measures your own EPC recommends and what your property will physically take. What is published is the legal frame: you cannot let a covered home rated F or G, you are not currently required to spend more than £3,500 including VAT of your own money, and if that will not get you to E there is an exemption to register. Below is the official measure-by-measure indicative table, then get quotes for your actual property.
How it works
- Tell us the property, its current rating and what the EPC recommends. Two minutes, no account.
- We pass your details to energy efficiency installers and domestic energy assessors covering the postcode, and to no one else.
- They quote your actual property directly. Compare, choose, or walk away.
EPC Upgrade Cost is a free introduction service operated by Ellul Solutions Ltd. We are not energy assessors, installers or solicitors, and nothing here is legal, tax or compliance advice. We are not affiliated with, or endorsed by, any government department, accreditation scheme or enforcement authority named on this site. We pass your details to relevant energy efficiency installers and domestic energy assessors who contact you directly; we may receive a fee from providers, you pay nothing and are under no obligation. Regulatory statements are quoted from published gov.uk guidance and legislation and were checked on the date shown; where a change has been announced but not enacted this site says so, and you should confirm the current position before acting.
Indicative EPC improvement costs and rating uplifts, gov.uk sample
Last updated
The government's own domestic MEES landlord guidance publishes a sample table of recommendations from an EPC report, showing an indicative cost, a typical annual saving and the band the property reaches after each measure. It is the only measure-by-measure indicative cost table published by government for this purpose, so we reproduce it here in full with its source, rather than inventing a price range of our own.
Reproduced verbatim from the 'Sample table of recommendations from the EPC report' in gov.uk's Domestic private rented property: minimum energy efficiency standard, landlord guidance, read on the updated date above. Two warnings the source itself gives: the ratings after improvement are cumulative, that is, they assume the measures are installed in the order shown; and this is a sample for one illustrative property, not a price list. Your own EPC report carries your own recommendations, indicative costs and uplifts, and only measures on that report count towards a MEES exemption. Real installed prices vary by region, property construction and access, so get quotes for your property before budgeting.
| Recommended measure | Indicative cost (gov.uk sample) | Typical savings per year | Rating after improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Room-in-roof insulation | £1,500–£2,700 | £837 | E39 |
| Internal or external wall insulation | £4,000–£14,000 | £195 | E45 |
| Solid floor insulation | £4,000–£6,000 | £122 | E49 |
| Increase hot water cylinder insulation | £15–£30 | £142 | E54 |
| Draught proofing | £80–£120 | £18 | D55 |
| Low energy lighting | £20 | £21 | D56 |
| High heat retention storage heaters or dual immersion cylinder | £1,200–£1,800 | £319 | D67 |
| Solar water heating | £4,000–£6,000 | £57 | C69 |
| Replace single glazed windows with low-E double glazing | £3,300–£6,500 | £123 | C73 |
| Solar photovoltaic panels | £5,000–£8,000 | £287 | B83 |
- In gov.uk's sample EPC recommendations table, the cheapest measures by far are hot water cylinder insulation (£15–£30 indicative) and low energy lighting (£20 indicative), and cylinder insulation shows one of the higher annual savings on the list at £142.
- The same sample shows internal or external wall insulation at £4,000–£14,000 indicative for a 6-point rating uplift, which is why wall insulation is the measure most likely to push a property over the £3,500 domestic MEES cost cap.
- Ratings in gov.uk's sample table are cumulative and assume the measures are installed in the order listed, so no single row's uplift can be read on its own.
Cite this page
“Indicative EPC improvement costs and rating uplifts, gov.uk sample”, EPC Upgrade Cost, https://epcupgradecost.co.uk/ (updated 2026-08-14). Reproduced verbatim from the 'Sample table of recommendations from the EPC report' in gov.uk's Domestic private rented property: minimum energy efficiency standard, landlord guidance, read on the updated date above. Two warnings the source itself gives: the ratings after improvement are cumulative, that is, they assume the measures are installed in the order shown; and this is a sample for one illustrative property, not a price list. Your own EPC report carries your own recommendations, indicative costs and uplifts, and only measures on that report count towards a MEES exemption. Real installed prices vary by region, property construction and access, so get quotes for your property before budgeting.
Go deeper
Sourced, dated, kept current.
- How to improve an EPC rating on a rental property
Start with your own EPC recommendations, not a generic list. Which measures move the rating most, why only recommended measures count, and where the cost cap bites.
- Minimum EPC rating for landlords: what applies today
Domestic MEES sets a minimum of E for covered private rented homes in England and Wales. Which tenancies are covered, the cost cap, enforcement and penalty limits.
- EPC exemptions and the PRS Exemptions Register
Six domestic MEES exemptions, what evidence each needs, how long they last, and how to register. Exemptions only apply from the point you register them, not before.
- EPC C by 2030: what is confirmed and what is still proposed
Government has published decisions on raising the rented-home standard to EPC C, including a 1 October 2030 date and a £10,000 cap. None of it is law yet. What follows.
Questions, answered directly
How much does it cost to improve an EPC rating?
There is no published price, because it depends on which measures your own EPC report recommends. gov.uk's sample recommendations table gives indicative costs ranging from £15–£30 for cylinder insulation up to £4,000–£14,000 for wall insulation and £5,000–£8,000 for solar PV. Those are illustrative for one sample property, not a quote. Get quotes for your actual property.
What is the minimum EPC rating for a rented property?
E, in England and Wales, for properties let on an assured, regulated or domestic agricultural tenancy that are legally required to have an EPC. Since 1 April 2020 you cannot let or continue to let such a property rated below E unless a valid exemption is registered.
Do I have to spend more than £3,500 on EPC improvements?
No. gov.uk states you are not currently required to spend more than £3,500 including VAT of your own money. If the property still cannot reach E after spending up to that cap, you install what you can and register an 'all relevant improvements made' exemption. Where third-party funding covers the full cost of reaching E, the cap does not apply.
Is EPC C going to become the minimum?
It is proposed, not enacted. The government response to the 2025 consultation sets out decisions including a single compliance date of 1 October 2030 and a raised £10,000 cost cap, but states that new powers by Act of Parliament and then a statutory instrument are needed, with the aim of coming into force in 2027. The standard in force today is E.
How long does an EPC last?
An EPC gives a property a rating from A, best, to G, worst, and is valid for 10 years. You can check whether a property has a valid EPC and download it free using the gov.uk find an energy certificate service.
Is this quote service really free?
Yes, free to you and with no obligation to accept any quote. We pass your details only to relevant energy efficiency installers and assessors, who quote you directly; we may receive a fee from those providers, which is how the service is funded.