An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) shows a building’s energy efficiency in the style of a fridge with an A-G rating with ‘A’ being most efficient (having lower fuel bills) and ‘G’ being least efficient (having higher fuel bills). As well as giving the likely energy costs of occupying the property, the aim of the EPC is to direct home owners to improve thermal efficiency and save energy costs.

The average EPC rating in London and Essex is a ‘D’ and the EPC will also give recommendations showing how the EPC rating could be improved.

All homes in the UK are measured using the same standards so you will be able to compare EPCs like, for like, across the UK. It is too early yet to be able to say that a good EPC rating will put thousands on the cost of a home (or take thousands off in the case of a bad one). Nevertheless the EPC does provide a tangible measure of the energy cost of a home. A high EPC rating will therefore, over time, be recognised as valuable in the same way that a diesel car is recognised as more economical and hence more valuable than a petrol driven car.

The EPC must also be provided free of charge by the agent to ‘serious’ prospective purchasers, as well as the eventual buyer and tenant. Failure to do so can result in a fine of £200 for each instance.

When is an EPC required?

An EPC is required by law at the point of marketing for both sales (including private sales) and rental properties. The EPC is valid for 10 years and although a new EPC is not required by law should you improve your property insulation or heating e.g. a new boiler, it would nevertheless be advisable because a better EPC is a positive selling point.

An EPC is not needed for sales of seasonal/holiday accommodation; private sales where the property has not been marketed; properties marked for demolition; sales of properties in a portfolio; or rentals where just a room is being let which has shared facilities.

What does the EPC rating tell you?

The EPC tells you how energy efficient the property is to give a rough guide as to how much you will spend to keep that property heated given a standard occupancy assumption. The EPC also provides a list of recommendations to make the property more thermally efficient and gives a rough estimate of savings over three years should these measures be implemented and shows the potential EPC rating as a result. It is important to note that, at present at least, there is no ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ and that the EPC recommendations are advisory and not a requirement.

What happens in an EPC?

One of our London & Essex EPC DEAs will attend the property and conduct a visual inspection making notes, drawing a floorplan and taking evidential accompanying photographs of the heating and heating controls, loft insulation and external views of the property (evidential photographs are required by all accreditation schemes). Access to the boiler and heating controls is essential and access to the loft to inspect loft insulation is also needed.

Should the loft be insulated but boarded over, a home owner will raise the EPC rating by having documentation showing any such insulation. In the same way, documentation showing wall insulation, insulated doors or floors, double glazing or extension/loft conversion plans would also be beneficial to the EPC, as well as any documentation relating to a Waste Water Heat Recovery System. This is because a DEA is not allowed to accept verbal assurances as evidence and all these things are hidden within the building fabric.

Areas that are inaccessible and/or without documention will be entered into the EPC as ‘assumed’ in keeping with the age and type of property. The time taken for this can be as little as 30 minutes for a small flat, going up to an hour for a 4-bed house, with more time back at base to write the report up and generate the Energy Performance Certificate.

Who can carry out an EPC?

An EPC can only be issued by an accredited Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA) or Home Inspector (HI). All London & Essex EPC DEAs are insured and accredited with the country’s leading accreditation scheme and have been Criminal Records Bureau checked, so you can order your EPC in London or Essex with confidence.

What factors will affect the EPC rating?

The main factors affecting the EPC rating are the type of wall build (e.g. solid walls are less thermally efficient than cavity walls), the heating system (e.g. gas central heating is better than electric radiators), any heating controls, the fuel used (e.g. mains gas is better than LPG), the length of external walls losing heat to the outside, the amount of insulation present in walls or the loft, the presence and type of any double glazing and the presence of any ‘green’ power generation such as solar hot water heating, wind turbines or photovoltaic panels.

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AML can provide your EPC in London or Essex quickly within 2 or 3 days.
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