EPC’s and Energy Efficiency in Private Rented Properties
From 1 April 2020, rented properties must have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of at least an "E" or have a registered exemption. Your property is classed as sub-standard, if it is rated as an "F" or "G". This is set out in the Domestic Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) Regulations.
An EPC is a certificate that is produced by an accredited domestic energy assessor. The EPC looks like the energy labels you find on domestic appliances and vehicles. Its purpose is to indicate how energy efficient a building is. The certificate will show the energy rating of the building from "A" to "G". "A" is very efficient, and "G" is the least efficient.
The better the rating, the more energy efficient the building is, and the lower the fuel bills are likely to be.
Landlords and Agents are required to provide a copy of the EPC at the start of any new tenancy, unless their particular type of property isn’t required to have an EPC. If they don’t provide the EPC then a landlord cannot serve a ‘section 21 notice’ to evict a tenant.
The MEES Regulations apply to all domestic private rented properties that are let under,
- an assured or assured shorthold tenancy
- a regulated tenancy
- an assured agricultural occupancy or occupancy granted under the Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976.
The MEES Regulations do not apply to
- cases where the tenant refuses consent to allow the energy efficiency improvement to be carried out. This applies if consent has been refused at any time in the last five years unless, from 1 April 2019, that tenant's lease comes to an end.
- if the required improvements would result in a reduction of more than 5 per cent in the market value of the property.
- for six months (temporary exemption) from the date a landlord becomes the landlord of the property in question in certain circumstances
- to residential properties in the Public Sector, RSL’s, and properties let under license.
Landlords must ensure that their properties comply with EPC report recommendations detailing measures which should improve the energy efficiency of their property to band E or higher if they want to continue to let.
You can look at an EPC for your own property or for other properties free of charge. This lets you compare your home’s energy performance with that of similar homes.
Grants
Landlords can support their tenants by offering energy saving advice and installing energy efficiency home upgrades. Summer is the ideal time to carry out these home improvements, before colder weather hits and energy prices go up again.
You may get help to improve the energy efficiency of your property. Please visit our Grants Page for more details on what may be available to you or your tenants.
Exemptions to allow renting a "F" or "G" property Register
Landlords who are relying on an exemption must register on the National Private Rented Sector (PRS) Exemptions Register. For more information you can read this guidance on the various types of qualifying exemption criteria.
Does my Property Need an EPC?
If your building meets one of the criteria below you won’t need an EPC
- A building that is officially protected as part of a designated environment or because of their special architectural or historic merit where compliance with certain minimum energy efficiency requirements would unacceptably alter their character or appearance.
- A building used as places of worship and for religious activities.
- A temporary building with a planned time of use of two years or less
- Industrial sites, workshops, non-residential agricultural buildings with low energy demand and non-residential agricultural buildings which are in use by a sector covered by a national sectorial agreement on energy performance.
- Stand-alone buildings with a total useful floor area of less than 50m² (i.e. buildings entirely detached from any other building).
- HMO’s (Houses in Multiple Occupation, for example these can be bedsits, hostels, shared houses etc) which have not been subject to a sale in the previous ten years, or which have not been let as a single rental in the past ten years.
What happens if I rent out a property with an "F" or "G" rating?
If a person breaches the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015, which cover EPCs, they can be fined up to £5000 and their details may be published on the PRS exemptions register, in other national databases and in the media, as set out in our Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy.
