This week, Suzanne Smith and Richard Jackson talk about a subject that causes a mixture of angst and even anger among landlords, and that's EPCs, or Energy Performance Certificates.
EPCs are very important for landlords, as the government announced in September that they'll be consulting on proposals for private and social rented houses in England to achieve EPC rating C by 2030.
They start with a recap on what EPCs are and the current minimum EPC for private landlords, before discussing problems with unreliability, and government plans to increase the minimum rating to a C and improve the reliability of EPCs.
Suzanne goes through what we know about the new Warm Homes Local Grants that will available for some private landlords from 2025, and they both end with some practical tips and ideas for improving the rating.
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What we cover in this episodeThe new consultation for private rented properties to have EPC CWhat is the average energy efficiency rating in the PRS?What is an EPC?How to find out what EPC a property hasWhat rules do landlords need to comply with relating to EPCsHow accurate are EPC ratings?Do EPCs help lower emissions?Warm Homes: Local GrantsTips for improving your energy efficiency ratings
The new consultation for private rented properties to have EPC C
The government announced in September that they'll be consulting on proposals for private and social rented houses in England to achieve EPC rating C or the equivalent by 2030.
What is the average energy efficiency rating in the PRS?
According to the latest government figures, the average EPC rating for the private rented sector in England and Wales is D (65) for existing properties. (Rating C starts at 69).
However, the figure of 65 includes flats, which tend to have a higher EPC rating, as well as post-war properties.
What is an EPC?
"EPC" stands for energy performance certificate. It was originally introduced by the European Union, and was designed to make the energy efficiency of buildings more transparent and comparable between different properties.
It's a certificate, which shows the rating of the property's energy efficiency, ranging from the most efficient at an A to the least efficient at a G.
A qualified energy assessor creates an EPC by inputting information into government approved software about the building, its heating, lighting, ventilation, air conditioning
Consequently it's important that the energy assessor inputs accurate information into the software.
How to find out what EPC a property has
It's easy to look up the EPC rating of any property by using the Find an energy certificate checker.
This is very useful for landlords as they can look up the EPC ratings of other properties in the same street and see which assessors have done the ratings.
What rules do landlords need to comply with relating to EPCs
Currently, rental properties must have an EPC rating of either at least an E or for the landlord to have spent up to the cost cap on improvements, ie £3,500 (inc VAT) on energy efficiency improvements.
The landlord must have commissioned the EPC before listing a property, and must use "all reasonable efforts to obtain one within seven days".
Landlords need to provide tenants with a copy of the full EPC with the assessor's report before they sign the tenancy agreement. If they don't do this, they may be unable to serve a Section 21 notice.
An EPC is valid for 10 years, and doesn't need to be renewed until the property is listed for sale or rent after it expires. . And, of course, that's soon gonna be phased out anyway. Yeah. And so an EPC is valid for ten years. And a question
How accurate are EPC ratings?
EPC ratings are notoriously variable and unreliable, and there's much academic research which concludes the same. For instance, research by Leeds Beckett University (2019) found that “27% of EPCs in the ope...
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