Energy efficiency standards

Energy Performance Certificates and their importance

You may have come across the term Energy Performance Certificate or an EPC when you have bought or rented a property. It may come as surprise that this certificate is important when deciding on where to live.

One of the biggest financial impacts of running a home are energy costs, which seemingly go up all the time. But how can you tell how much energy your new home will consume?

Well, that's where an Energy Performance Certificate comes in, this certificate will provide an estimate on how much it will cost to power your new home. It is very easy to tell if your new property will be costly to heat by referring to the EPC rating, a rating of an 'A' will indicate a property is very energy efficient and progressing down the scale will indicate a less energy efficient property.

A less energy efficient property will cost you more to heat. For example, 2 properties, semi-detached, with floor space of 135m2 to 144m2, the estimated energy costs for heat, light and hot water are:

• an 'A' rated home costs a total of £1,701 over 3 years - equal to just under £45 a month.

• a 'G' rated house costs a total of £11,010 over 3 years - equal to just over £300 a month

Reducing your monthly energy is not just good for your pocket but will reduce your carbon emission foot print. Around 22% of the UK's carbon emissions come from our homes, so it can make a really difference to choose a property with a low EPC rating.

The certificate is also useful to a homeowner so that they can see where they can make savings and improvements on their energy use to improve their EPC rating.

View an example EPC certificate. If the certificate suggests the boiler is inefficient it's likely to mean the boiler is old and may be coming to the end of its life and may need replacing in the near future.

Depending on your circumstances funding may be available to improve the Energy Performance of a property.

Tenanted Residential Properties

If you rent a property, by law, the EPC rating must be greater than a 'E' unless an applicable exemption is registered on the PRS national exemption register. You can check your properties EPC rating on the GOV.UK website. If your EPC rating is an F or a G then please contact us by emailing info@southribble.gov.uk since your landlord may be breaking the law.

Landlords and potential landlords

All domestic private rental properties must have at a minimum an EPC rating of an E, whether a new tenancy is being signed or not. You can check your properties EPC rating on the GOV.UK website. If you currently let or plan to buy a residential property which has an EPC rating below an E then please seek further advice on how to improve the energy efficiency rating.

Non-compliance with minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) can attract a financial penalty of up to £5,000.