EPC's

When is an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) required?

For all new lettings landlords must have a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) that can be made available to all prospective tenants.

There is no need to obtain a Energy Performance Certificate for an existing tenancy and once an EPC has been obtained it remains valid for up to 10 years so if a valid EPC exists whenever there is a change of tenant no new certificate is required.

Whilst Landlords are required to give a copy of the EPC to new tenants, they are not obliged to carry out any of the recommendations contained within the EPC . Measures that would improve the property’s energy efficiency and environmental impact rating are highlighted and grants through the Green Deal are available.

Home Legal Services can arrange individual or multiple EPCs on behalf of private landlords and letting agents throughout the UK for a competitive fixed fee.

Procedure:

When an Energy Performance Certificate is required the EPC and recommendation report must be made available free of charge by the landlord to a prospective tenant at the earliest opportunity and no later than when any written information about the building is provided in response to a request for information received from the prospective tenant, or when a viewing is conducted, or if neither of these occur before entering into a contract to let.

Whilst there are occasions when an Energy Performance Certificate does not have to be made available our recommendation is get one done when you start the process as it will need to be done before the tenant moves in:

However, there are some slightly more unusual circumstances where it might be more difficult to tell whether an Energy Performance Certificate is required so the following examples have been supplied by the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

Case study 1

A house or flat is rented by a number of tenants who have exclusive use of their bedrooms but share a kitchen and bathroom. In this case each tenant has a contract with the landlord for the parts they have access to, but not for a whole dwelling. An EPC is therefore not required each time a tenant moves, although one will be required for the whole house if it is sold, rented as a whole or constructed.

Case study 2

A group of friends rent a property and there is a single contract between the landlord and the group as the contract is for the rental of a whole dwelling. An EPC is required for the whole dwelling. In this case, a dwelling is taken to be a domestic building which is either the whole of the building or a part altered or designed for separate use.

Case study 3

Individual tenants rent rooms in a hall of residence. Each room does not constitute a building or part of a building designed to be used independently or separately. An EPC is not required, for each individual room. However, an EPC will be required on the whole building if it sold, rented or constructed. It will also be required on self-contained units within the hall, e.g. a self-contained caretaker's flat, if this is sold, rented or constructed.

Energy Efficiency Allowances:

The government has various Green Deal and Eco Deal grants available to landlords to improve their rental stock Energy Performance Certificate often be recommend energy efficiency improvements that comply with the Landlord Energy Saving Allowance (LESA) scheme. We have pleny of experience in helping you obtain a grant or tax allowances for energy efficient improvements.

The Landlord Energy Saving Allowance (LESA) allows private residential landlords who pay income tax to claim a deduction in their income tax bill of up to £1,500 per property for installing energy efficient measures and is available until 2015.