An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) shows how energy efficient a property is, its carbon emissions, and its energy costs. It does this by giving an EPC rating between A (most efficient) and G (least efficient). Obtaining an EPC certificate is a legal requirement if you are selling, renting out, or building a property. Let's take a closer look at what an EPC certificate is and how to get one for your property.
If you need an EPC certificate, don't hesitate to get in touch with us at the EPC Crew. We can help you through every step of the process from start to finish.
An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is a document that demonstrates the energy performance of a property. It contains information about:
Energy Performance Certificates are valid for 10 years, although you can request a new one sooner than that.
Learn more: What Is An EPC Certificate
It is a legal requirement to have an Energy Performance Certificate if you are selling, renting, or building a property. The rules are slightly different for the Scottish government and Northern Ireland compared to England and Wales, so it is worth looking into the exact regulations for where you live.
You need to have an Energy Performance Certificate when you put a property up for rent. The rules have become stricter in recent years. It used to be the case that you only needed an EPC for a new lease but you will now need one any time an existing lease is renewed.
On top of this, the energy rating itself matters for rental properties. This is because they have to meet a minimum energy efficiency standard (MEES). These standards state that any rental property must have a minimum energy efficiency rating of E. Anything below an E (i.e. an F or a G) would mean that the property legally can't be rented out.
Again, these rules are set to get stricter soon. As part of the government's drive towards net zero carbon emissions, they are planning to raise the minimum energy efficiency standards for rental properties to C by 2025 and then to B by 2030.
Your estate agent needs to have an EPC certificate before your house is put on the market and, legally, this certificate must be available to potential buyers.
Unlike rental properties, there are no minimum energy efficiency standards for properties for sale. However, higher energy efficiency ratings can increase the market value of a property because they indicate lower potential energy bills.
Uncover more: Do You Need An EPC Certificate To Sell A House
Commercial properties must have a valid EPC when they are rented out, sold, or built. They will also need to have one if there are changes made to the parts used for separate occupations.
The certificate will need to be displayed on the building if:
A public building will need to display the exact energy usage and performance of the building, not just the estimated usage based on the EPC.
Before you look into how to get an energy certificate, it is worth checking if there is already a valid EPC associated with your property. Energy Performance Certificates are valid for 10 years, and if it is already in date then it will cover you if you are selling or renting out the property.
Energy Performance Certificates are publicly available in an online database so it is simple to find out if you already have one.
An energy performance survey must be conducted by a qualified energy assessor. For residential properties, this will be done by accredited domestic energy assessors, and for commercial properties by accredited commercial energy assessors.
An EPC inspection will last between 30 minutes and an hour. The assessor will examine a variety of elements of the property that either use energy or lose energy. They will determine how energy-efficient each element is and input it into specialised EPC software.
The elements that they look at will include the structural integrity of the property such as:
They will also look at the energy consumption of different elements of the property, including:
Finally, they will look at elements of the property that could lose energy through heat loss:
The software will calculate the home's energy efficiency using the Standard Assessment Procedure. This uses the energy efficiency scores of each examined element to generate SAP points. These points are out of 100 and the more SAP points assigned, the higher the property's EPC rating.
These points are used to create the A-G rating graph on your certificate (this looks like the energy labels you see on new appliances).
The software also produces energy reports that you will see on your certificate, including the individual ratings for the different elements, the predicted energy bills, recommended energy efficiency improvements, and the environmental impact of the property.
EPC costs are not standardised and can vary based on a variety of factors. These can include:
Included in the EPC cost are the price of the certificate and the services of the energy assessor.
On average, to get an EPC carried out on a residential property will cost between £35 and £120. For a commercial property, it could be anywhere between £150 to £1150, depending on the size of the building.
Dig Deeper: How Much Does An EPC Certificate Cost
After the EPC inspection, the certificate will be sent to the government's online EPC register within a couple of days. There is nothing that you need to do to make this happen. The certificate will be valid for 10 years after the inspection date.
For private rented properties or commercial property, if you meet the minimum E rating then there isn't anything else you need to do. If the EPC assessment shows that your property performance is below the energy efficiency requirements, then you won't be able to rent it out (or use it for commercial properties) until you meet the energy efficiency guidelines.
For private properties put up for sale, you don't have to meet any minimum energy efficiency standards. You can sell your property at any EPC rating you like. Improving your rating, however, can give your property more market value and will make it a more attractive option for prospective buyers because of the associated lower energy bills.
The best way to improve your Energy Performance Certificate rating is by implementing some of the suggested improvements laid out in the EPC report. These suggestions will be specifically tailored to your property so will make a difference to its energy efficiency.
Explore further: How To Improve Energy Performance Certificate
Making these changes will cost money, although the potential savings on energy bills and the impact of current and potential ratings can offset this.
Once you have made improvements to the energy efficiency of the property, you can request a new Energy Performance Certificate to reflect those changes. Obtaining a new energy rating is most important if you need to meet the minimum energy efficiency standards but is also very useful as part of the selling process.
The procedure for obtaining a new energy efficiency rating is identical to the first time and you can request a new certificate at any point. You don't have to wait until the 10-year mark. Your new Energy Performance Certificate may give you a different energy efficiency rating based on the improvements that you have made.
Obtaining an EPC certificate is a relatively easy process. You will need to have the assessment completed by a qualified energy assessor, and it will take between 30 minutes and an hour. After that, your EPC certificate is generated with a copy sent to you and one sent to the online government EPC register. If you didn't get the EPC rating that you wanted or needed, then you can make the recommended energy efficiency improvements and request a new EPC assessment to reflect these.
If you need an EPC certificate or want advice on how to improve your EPC rating, don't hesitate to get in touch. At the EPC Crew, our helpful team will guide you through the entire process from start to finish.
