ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATE (EPC)

Since October 2008, all rented properties or properties marketed for sale, require an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) that provides the energy rating of the property. The EPC can be undertaken at the same time as the property photos and floor plan, resulting in only one visit to the property, saving both time and money.

As of 1 April 2020, landlords can no longer let or continue to let properties covered by the MEES (Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard) Regulations if they have an EPC rating below E, unless they have a valid exemption in place.   Please refer to our Energy Consultancy page for more details.

Domestic EPC's currently use two sets of fuel costs:

• The first is set by the SAP methodology (Table 12).  This set of fuel prices only changes when the methodology is updated, and directly affects the EPC rating.
• The second, is set by the BRE's Product Character Database (PCDB) which is updated every six months and is based on a rolling average of the last 3 years' fuel prices.

Due to the ongoing energy crisis, the fuel costs within BRE's Product Character Database (PCDB) are now considered inaccurate.

What does this mean?

On February 15th 2023, fuel prices for Domestic Energy EPC's (new build and existing properties) were updated.  This will impact all EPC's submitted after this date, giving a more accurate representation of the property's running costs and savings for heating, water heating and lighting.   This will not affect the EPC rating but will be reflected within the energy costs of the property.