SHAME OF THRONES

SCORES of rental properties owned by Prince William are failing to meet minimum legal standards for landlords.

- NICK SOMMERLAD

Tenants complain of homes riddled with damp and black mould that are so hard to heat they are plunged into fuel poverty.

Since 2020, it has been illegal for landlords to rent out properties that have an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating lower than E without an exemption.

As many as one in seven rental homes owned by Prince William's £1.3billion Duchy of Cornwall estate fall below this, with F or G-rated EPCs, our investigation with Channel 4's Dispatches found.

Some tenants claim they asked for their homes to be upgraded but were told no by the Duchy. Meanwhile, the taxpayer is funding a £369million renovation of Buckingham Palace and William has launched a campaign to end homelessness and for "everyone having a right to a safe and stable home".

One tenant said: "The slick PR will stick in the throat of many tenants. He should start by bringing the homes he already owns up to modern standards."

FREEZING

The 700-year-old Duchy of Cornwall has more than 600 rental properties. William is managing the estate he inherited from his father in 2022, when Charles became King after Queen Elizabeth II died.

Last year he earned £24m from it - and since the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) regulations came in in 2020, William and his father have received £91m in profits from the estate.

During a 15-month investigation, this newspaper and Dispatches identified nearly 500 Duchy-owned properties via the Land Registry.

Of those, 50 were rated F and 20 were rated G - including six with the lowest EPC score of one point out of 100.

None of those 70 properties had exemptions in place, and we understand the Duchy considers the rules do not apply when the same tenant has lived in a property for many years and the EPC was done "voluntarily".