More than 100 properties on the royal estates of King Charles and Prince William are being rented out despite failing to meet the legal minimum energy efficiency standards required of landlords in England, a new investigation has revealed.
An analysis of domestic lets across the Duchy of Lancaster, the Duchy of Cornwall, and the Sandringham estate found that roughly one in five homes carry an Energy Performance Certificate rating of F or G. Those are the two lowest possible ratings, and renting out properties with those grades has been illegal for private landlords in England since 2020.
The findings raise serious questions about whether the royal estates are being held to the same standards as ordinary landlords across the country, thousands of whom have faced fines and enforcement action for letting out similarly rated properties.
The Duchy of Lancaster is the private estate that funds King Charles directly, while the Duchy of Cornwall has historically provided income to the heir to the throne and is now managed under Prince William. Sandringham is one of the King’s private residences in Norfolk, but it also includes a significant number of tenanted homes on its land.
For tenants living in these properties, the consequences are very real. Poorly insulated homes with inefficient heating systems are expensive to keep warm, and many residents have described struggling with cold, draughty conditions during winter months. Some have spoken about the frustration of paying high energy bills in homes that feel impossible to heat properly, despite their landlord being one of the wealthiest institutions in the country.
Under the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards regulations introduced in England and Wales, landlords are required to ensure their rental properties have an EPC rating of at least E before they can legally let them. The rules were designed to protect tenants from living in cold, energy-inefficient homes and to push property owners to invest in improvements like insulation, double glazing, and modern heating systems.
There are some exemptions to the rules, and heritage or listed buildings can sometimes qualify for them. Many properties on royal estates are old and historically significant, which could explain some of the below-standard ratings. However, campaigners argue that exemptions should not be a blanket excuse for failing to improve conditions for tenants who are living in those homes day in, day out.
The government has also been pushing ahead with plans to tighten energy efficiency rules further in the coming years, with proposals that would require rental properties to reach a minimum EPC rating of C by 2030. That would mean the royal estates needing to carry out significant upgrades across a large number of properties if they are to comply.
Energy efficiency in housing has become an increasingly hot topic in England, with millions of homes still poorly insulated and contributing to high household bills as well as carbon emissions. Campaigners and housing charities have long argued that progress has been too slow, and that landlords in particular have been allowed to drag their feet on improvements.
The revelation that royal estates are among those letting out sub-standard properties is likely to fuel calls for greater accountability and transparency around how those estates are managed. Unlike most private landlords, the duchies receive significant public attention and benefit from unique financial arrangements tied to the monarchy.
Representatives for the royal estates have not publicly commented in detail on the specific findings, but the story is expected to prompt renewed scrutiny of how the estates manage their housing stock and what plans are in place to bring properties up to legal standards.
For the tenants themselves, many of whom have lived on these estates for years, the hope is simple. They want warm, affordable homes, and they want their landlord, royal or not, to be held to the same rules as everyone else.