The Mortgage Works expands lending support as landlords face 2030 energy rule risk

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Highlights

The Mortgage Works launched a pilot with Eco Advance for 1,000 rental properties, offering free energy surveys and upgrade advice ahead of 2030 rules.
New further-advance loans of up to £15,000 at 2.99 per cent fixed for two or five years, with no fee, help landlords fund energy-efficiency upgrades.
Government data shows 55 per cent of England's private rental homes—about 2.5 million properties—fall below grade C and face compliance pressure before October 2030.

Loan scheme targets upgrade gap before 2030

As reported by Financial Times, The Mortgage Works, a Nationwide subsidiary and major buy-to-let lender, is launching a pilot with retrofit company Eco Advance to help landlords improve properties that fall short of grade C under the coming rules.

The pilot covers owners of 1,000 rental properties and offers free surveys, advice on how to raise energy standards and cost estimates for the required work. The lender says it is testing demand ahead of a possible wider rollout to all of its customers if the scheme proves successful.

The Mortgage Works is also offering new further-advance loans of up to £15,000, fixed for two or five years at 2.99 per cent with no fee, to help existing borrowers fund energy-efficiency upgrades. The discounted pricing is positioned below typical rates on green home loans.

Research by the lender finds that 67 per cent of landlords are unaware rented homes will need a minimum energy-efficiency rating of C when the regime takes effect in October 2030. Seven in 10 also do not know when the new rules begin, leaving many at risk of delaying works with four years remaining before the deadline.

Private rental sector faces cost and compliance pressure

Government figures show that 55 per cent of homes in England's private rented sector, about 2.5 million properties in total, are below grade C. That leaves a large share of landlords needing to assess retrofit requirements well before the rules tighten.

Energy performance certificates rate homes from A to G and remain valid for 10 years. While energy-efficiency improvements can be costly, landlords that spend at least £10,000 trying to reach a C rating but still fail can qualify for a 10-year exemption, while other exemptions may apply to listed buildings or leasehold flats where options such as solar panels or heat pumps are unavailable.

David Hollingworth, associate director at L&C Mortgages, says landlords need to understand both the scale and cost of the required works as early as possible. Dan Clinton, head of buy-to-let at The Mortgage Works, says the assessment scheme and discounted lending should reduce uncertainty and some cost barriers, while potentially supporting property values, rental yields and lower energy bills for tenants.

Our earlier article on Octopus Energy CEO Greg Jackson’s call to link climate policy with lower household electricity bills highlighted the risk of public pushback when decarbonisation is framed as higher costs. We noted his argument that UK power bills have become loaded with multiple policy charges, and that keeping energy affordable is key to sustaining support for the transition.

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