So - it’s an exciting time at the moment. There is a stamp duty frenzy but there are some longer-term push factors out there in the market as well. The one I was invited to explore this month is EPCs - and what it means from an investment perspective. This will include what I think will happen, and what to ACTUALLY worry about, rather than get caught up in the rumour mill.

Firstly - let’s remember, we likely won’t even be using the acronym any more next year. We don’t know, and we never know - this is either the fourth or fifth consultation in a decade, I’ve lost count. We went to a MEES (minimum energy efficiency standard) of E, and there was very little pushback. Nor should there be.

Any other sensible administration and organisation would have allowed 10 years’ worth (at least) of runway and said - right, EPC D by x date and EPC C by y date. Also - at the same time - here is the grant funding that we are planning, so that properties with lower values, or properties in cheaper areas, or just properties with tenants in need, will be able to be upgraded at a lower cost. Many ways to do this - partially funded in a “green deal” kind of way, for example - but note the key points - clear and long-term communication.

Instead, there’s been a complete and utter mess. The last administration didn’t believe in net zero, and indeed it took Sunak, surely the least extreme of the recent Blue leaders, to push it back. This administration ALSO doesn’t believe in net zero, and instead has just chosen to lie, saying that Growth and Net Zero can go hand in hand. They absolutely can’t - whilst net zero continues to put onerous levies on energy prices, there is no other single variable that can hurt growth more than expensive energy.

Cheap energy is quite literally the reason why we moved from the fields of the 1700s to the industrial revolution of the 1800s. It has carried on getting cheaper - until recently. You could happily compare it to technology, and its overall disinflationary impact - and its impact on productivity and progress. In reality, net zero has been pushed back again, but to avoid an embarrassing resignation from Ed Miliband, the EPC bandwagon has been revived.