Planning, building and the environment

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Advice to landlords, builders and solicitors

Rental

Since 1 October 2008 a landlord needs to provide an Energy Performance Certificate whenever a home in the social or private rented sector is let to a new tenant.

The certificate is only required for a property which is self-contained. It is not required when a tenant rents a room and shares facilities, where a tenant has a separate contract with the landlord.

The EPC and recommendation report must be made available free of charge by a landlord to a prospective tenant at the earliest opportunity and no later than:

when any written information about the building is provided in response to a request for information received from the prospective tenant; or
when a viewing is conducted; or
if neither of those occur, before entering into a contract to sell or let.

EPCs are valid for 10 ten years and can be reused as many times as required within that period. If a newer EPC is produced within the ten year period, only the most recent one is valid.

The only person who is able to produce an Energy Performance Certificate is an accredited energy assessor. More information can be found on How to obtain an Energy Performance Certificate.

On Construction (builder)

From 6 April 2008, all homes built and physically complete on or after this date, need to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) provided on construction.

Energy Performances Certificates tell owners and potential buyers and tenants about the energy efficiency of a home and how it can be improved. They come with a recommendation report which includes advice and suggestions on improvements you could make to save money and energy. The certificate also shows the rating that could be achieved if all the recommendations are followed. In the case of new homes the recommendation report will be shorter as most money-saving improvements will have already been included in the design.

It is the responsibility of the builder to provide an EPC. This will also apply if a building is converted into fewer or more units and changes are made to the heating, hot water provision or air conditioning/ventilation services.

When the home is physically complete, the builder must obtain an EPC for the home, provide the EPC to the new owner of the home and notify the local authority building control officers or approved inspectors that this has been done. This must be done no later than the time specified by the building regulations. Building regulations include standards for the energy performance of new homes which builders must adhere to in order to comply with building regulations.

Once building control are satisfied the EPC has been properly produced and provided to the relevant party, they are able to issue a final completion certificate. From 6 April 2008, a final completion certificate for a home cannot be issued by building control unless they are satisfied an EPC has been provided.

If the completed home is being advertised for sale, the EPC is available to include in a Home Information Pack for potential buyers for the next 3 years.

The only person who is able to produce an Energy Performance Certificate is an accredited energy assessor. More information can be found on How to obtain an Energy Performance Certificate.

If you are selling a home before it has been built, you will need to provide information about energy efficiency in a Predicted Energy Assessment (PEA). This is simply the predicted SAP and Environmental Impact (CO2) rating from the SAP calculations you do at the design stage to check whether you will meet energy-saving targets. You can use a spreadsheet template to create the graphics from the SAP rating. There is no need for PEAs to be produced by an accredited assessor and they do need to have a recommendation report.

On Sale (solicitor)

The seller is responsible for ensuring a certificate is made available to all prospective purchasers at the earliest opportunity.

The Energy Performance Certificate and recommendation report must be made available free of charge by the seller to a prospective buyer at the earliest opportunity and no later than:

when any written information about the building is provided in response to a request for information received from the prospective buyer; or
when a viewing is conducted; or
if neither of those occur, before entering into a contract to sell.

An EPC does not have to be made available if:

the seller believes that the prospective buyer is unlikely to have sufficient funds to purchase the property or is not genuinely interested in buying that type of property; or
the seller is unlikely to be prepared to sell the property to the prospective buyer (although this does not authorize unlawful discrimination)

For the marketed sales of homes, including homes marketed before they are physically complete (i.e. off plan), Home Information Pack (HIP) regulations apply. Where a HIP is required an Energy Performance Certificate must be produced as part of the pack (for off plan homes this will be an indicative energy assessment).

On this website, references to marketed sales of homes mean marketed sales of homes which are physically complete when marketed. For further details visit the Home Information Packs website (External link).

Homes sold without marketing for sale eg by private treaty between family members or Local Authority housing required an EPC on sale from 1 October 2008.
The only person who is able to produce an Energy Performance Certificate is an accredited energy assessor. More information can be found on How to obtain an Energy Performance Certificate.