In this blog post, we will explore the role of EPCs in the property market, and explain why it’s important for landlords and homeowners to make sure their properties have up-to-date certificates. 

We will also provide some tips on how to improve your property’s energy performance rating.

What are energy performance certificates (EPCs)?

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are an essential tool that provide detailed information about the energy efficiency of buildings.

With an EPC, buyers and tenants can work out the likely running costs of a property before they commit to purchasing it or signing a lease.

These certificates are created by accredited domestic energy assessors who use specific methods to appraise the energy efficiency levels of a given building. This information is then presented as an easily readable report compiled into an Energy Performance Certificate with useful tips and recommendations for improvement.

With knowledge from these reports, homeowners and businesses are able to take steps towards making their properties more efficient and potentially reducing their running costs. EPCs are becoming increasingly necessary in the modern market and can provide great value for everyone involved.

One thing that should be noted, is that the EPC is not a condition report. It does not report on the condition of any particular item mentioned in the report.

So for example. it the property has a faulty boiler, the EPC will still use the efficiency of that particular model in its calculations assuming the boiler is in full working order.

If a condition report is what you are after, then you may wish to engage the services of a chartered surveyor for a whole house condition report. However, this doesn’t negate the legal requirement for still needing an EPC.

Why are EPCs important in the property market?

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are an integral part of the property market, providing valuable insights into a building’s performance in terms of energy efficiency.

They provide essential information to potential buyers, landlords and tenants so they better understand how efficient a property is and what improvements can be made to reduce energy usage in the long run.

Although the EPC has been around 2007, it has only been since April 2020 with the implementation of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards, whereby only properties with an EPC rating of an A to E can legally be let, that the EPC has gained repectablity as a meaningful document.

It’s importance has further been increased by banks and lending institutions firstly:

• requesting an EPC for any remortaging or additional lending.
• offering lending only if the EPC meets a minimum energy rating they have set.
• offering preferential lending rates on their green mortgage products for properties with either C or B rating.

How do EPCs impact home buyers and sellers?

The recent energy crisis in 2022 where our energy bills have doubled has seen homeowners actively engaging in the epc report, where previously this wasn’t the case. 

This now means that sellers are seeking to get as high an EPC rating as possible and buyers are actually reading the EPC Certificate and including this as part of their buying decision. 

As a seller, listing your home with an EPC offers potential buyers greater insight into the long term cost of owning and operating the property; since many homebuyers understand it can be just as important to consider the life cost of ownership in addition to the upfront cost. 

On the other hand, buyers can rest easier knowing that they can compare properties on their respective energy efficiency levels and make more fiscally responsible decisions when finding their ideal home. 

What you can do to improve your home’s energy performance rating?

As a seller, your property will always show in a better light if you get the rating as high as possible. The only problem is you’re selling the property and you probably don’t want to spend a lot of money on things that you will get no benefit from. 

In the following hints and tips we’ll give guidance on ways to do this. 

The first thing to do is understand the EPC rating.

The EPC rates the property from a G0 to A92+ as show in the graph below.

TIP 1

Have a look at the current rating and the score. If you are no more than 3 points away from the next band, then it’s certainly worth simply getting it into the next band. So in the example above it shows as a 54| E. So it shouldn’t be difficult or costly to get one more point to get it into the D band. After all a D sounds better than an E, and a C sounds better than a D etc.

In the rating example above, once in the D band, it’s a massive jump to get it from a D55 to a C69 which is 14 points, which in EPC terms is a massive jump and would only be acheiveable by spending a lot of money. Most people would only remember that the property was simply a D rating.

TIP 2

Even if you have an existing EPC, if it is more than 5 years old, get it updated so any improvements you have made can be reflected in a new EPC. You can also use the golden nugget I’ve provided below if it’s applicable to your property.

TIP 3 (This Is A Golden Nuggett)

If you have an electric heater in your living room as secondary heating, then remove it …..well for the epc visit anyway . Here’s why … some things if present in the property will actually lower your epc rating. 

Electric fires as secondary heating is one of those, because heating a property by peak rate electric is expensive and the software will calculate that you will be using it a certain percentage of the time. Even though in reality most people have them simply as a focal point.

Here is the difference in a real property the it makes.

EPC Rating – Electric heater present.

EPC Rating – With no electric heater present.

So you can see there has been an improvement of 4 points acheived without spending a penny. This is quite a significant amount of points in EPC terms.

TIP 4

Provide documentary evidence of any insulation improvements made to the property that typically wouldn’t be seen during the site visit. This typically applies to the following areas:

• flat roof insulation
• sloping ceiling insulation
• underfloor insulation
• internal wall insulation
• loft conversions, please provide a copy of the completion certificate from your building control body.

If documentary evidence can’t be produced, then the assessor can’t enter it into the software and the epc certificate may show a lower rating than the property may be in reality.

TIP 5

Work with your EPC Assessor to identify if there is any low hanging fruit that can be used to get your EPC into the next EPC band.

Your Assessor may charge you for this. We currently charge £70 for this service.

As qualified Assessors, we know which things have the biggest impact on the EPC rating and can run different scenarios within the software to offer you possible solutions. This also includes advise of grant funding that may be available especially towards insulation and in some cases heating. 

With your property being likely your biggest asset, this is one thing that can pay dividends in portraying it’s energy rating in the best light.