Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) show potential home buyers or tenants how energy efficient the building is. The EPC contains information on potential energy costs and carbon dioxide emissions. A coloured chart, similar to those used on household electrical appliances, shows how energy efficient the building is or could be.
How To Improve Your EPC Rating
The best time to take action if you are a landlord in England or Wales is now because, as many of you are well aware, the most recent phase of the Government’s initiative to improve the energy use of domestic properties goes into effect next April. Landlords should pay attention to the legislation if they haven’t previously since it was initially proposed in 2018 as part of a major attempt to reduce emissions to zero by 2050.
The legislation was changed in April of last year to prevent new leases from being issued for buildings with EPC ratings that were lower than band E. The requirement now applies to ALL residential premises, meaning even tenancies that are currently in place must reach or surpass the band E cutoff limit.
So, if your property is now rated F or G, you don’t have much time to get everything in order if you want to stay in compliance and avoid paying some quite steep fines. We’ll look at a few of them today. Fortunately, there are a few easy things you can do that could help enough to get you out of problems in the near term.
It’s crucial to keep in mind, though, that the Government is poised to go much farther in the future, with the possibility that by 2030, all privately leased properties will have to achieve an EPC rating of C or above.
This may influence how you proceed as covering up problems with a short-term perspective may ultimately cost you more, especially if you intend to hold onto your investment for the next ten years or longer.
We are here to help you. Get your EPC at very shortly. For more details and booking, click the button below.
Energy ratings
Buildings are given a “A” through “G” rating. The building has an efficiency rating of “A” and is depicted on the chart as green. The letter “G” on the chart denotes inefficiency and is highlighted in red.
Higher-rated properties are probably to have reduced gasoline costs.
The law
A property need an EPC if it is:
- built
- For sale or rental advertising
Enforcement action and the issuance of a penalty charge notice may result from not having an EPC. In Northern Ireland, district councils are in charge of enforcing laws.
Each EPC has a ten-year shelf life and is interchangeable at that time. An qualified energy assessor must visit the house to conduct the evaluation in order to create an EPC.
The EPC search feature on the EPC Register allows users to get a copy of the EPC that has been registered on a national register. (An external link will open in a new tab or window) In order to monitor and ensure that the EPB laws are being followed, some of the underlying data may be shared with others. Some of this information may be used by the government for statistics or research reasons.
