Agentic UK Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) improvement action plan, Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) compliance report, and Green Finance (ECO4/Great British Insulation Scheme) funding application pack for small private landlords (1–10 properties) required to reach EPC Band C by 2030 under the incoming MEES regulations. Replaces the retrofit coordinator or energy consultant who charges £500–£1,500 to interpret the existing EPC, prioritise improvement measures, and identify grant funding — a process made newly urgent by the Labour government's confirmed 2030 EPC-C deadline for all tenancies.
Why now
No signals in today's batch; justified by the UK government's confirmed reinstatement of the 2030 EPC-C MEES deadline for private rented sector (announced in Labour's 2024 manifesto and confirmed in MHCLG consultation response, with draft regulations expected H2 2025). This is one of the largest compliance deadlines facing UK landlords in a decade.
Commercial value
~2.4 million private rented properties in England and Wales are below EPC Band C. Landlords face fines of up to £30,000 per property for non-compliance. Retrofit coordinators charge £500–£1,500 per property assessment. A £199–£399 per-property agentic report is a clear saving with a hard regulatory deadline. ACV for a 5-property landlord: £1,000–£2,000. TAM: enormous — even 1% of non-compliant properties is 24,000 customers.
Go-to-market
Target small landlords via r/UKLandlords, Rightmove landlord newsletters, and letting agent referral partnerships. Price at £249 per property report. First 10 customers via direct outreach to landlord Facebook groups posting about MEES anxiety. Letting agents refer as a value-add to their landlord clients.
2-week MVP
Build a simple web form: landlord uploads existing EPC PDF + answers 8 questions about property type and tenure. LLM parses EPC data, generates a prioritised improvement schedule with estimated costs, ECO4/GBIS eligibility check, and a one-page compliance timeline. Delivered as PDF within 24 hours (human QA pass). Cut: contractor sourcing, actual grant application filing, multi-property portfolio management. Day-1 outcome: landlord pays £149 and receives a clear action plan they can take to a builder and letting agent.
Agent score
0.63 — Commercial score is high: 2.4M non-compliant properties, hard regulatory deadline, named fine exposure of £30,000, and a clear £149–£399 price point well below the consultant alternative; capped at 0.88 because many landlords will delay until closer to the deadline. Speed score reflects a genuinely 10-day buildable MVP with zero-paid-acquisition via landlord forums. Defensibility is low — the report format is replicable — but a property-level data asset and letting agent distribution network would compound over time.
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Solve Studio is an independent AI automation and product studio founded by James Pates, working out of Brighton and London with clients across the UK. Get in touch at james@solve-studio.co.