Energy Performance Certificate or EPC is a term that may only be familiar to you if you have sold or are selling your home, but that is about to change as the Government steps up its campaign to make us all more conscious of the energy we use and our own carbon footprint.

The 1st October will see the introduction of Energy Performance Certificates for Rental Property in the UK, with all new lettings undertaken after this deadline requiring an EPC.

The EPC has its roots in the Kyoto Protocol which was a worldwide initiative started in 1997 to address the issue of Greenhouse gases. Since then the European Union have formulated the European Directive for the Energy Performance of Buildings, which applies to all member states with a clearly defined timetable of the measures we must introduce. By 2009 virtually every property in the UK including our homes, shops, offices, factories, schools and hospitals will require an EPC and in many cases this will need to be displayed publicly.

Any landlord that thinks that this deadline will be delayed should think again as the government are currently running a major press and radio campaign to raise awareness of this latest step of the phased introduction of EPC’s.

Concerns have been raised over whether there will be sufficient numbers of qualified domestic energy assessors (DEA’s) to handle the demand. As of March this year there were just over 7000 qualified DEA’s meaning that this will certainly be an extremely busy time for the energy assessment industry.

Ignorance will be no defence in terms of complying with the new legislation and therefore it is essential to understand the precise requirements of the law. The government has produced the following information on its Communities website

EPC Choice has undertaken an extensive review of the legislation and our interpretation for Landlords is as follows;

The EPC and recommendation report must be made available free of charge by the landlord to any prospective tenant at the earliest opportunity. The government defines these “opportunities” as being 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”

If neither of the above takes place then the EPC must be produced before the letting contract is signed.

But how will this translate into the real life situations faced by landlords – lets look at a case study;

Landlord X places an ad for his recently vacated 2 bedroom flat with a local paper, a prospective tenant calls the landlord and asks for further details. In the unlikely event that the landlord has prepared written letting particulars then these would need to include the EPC, however as few landlords produce such details the EPC will not need to be produced…..YET.

If this enquiry results in the prospective tenant arranging to view the property, then the landlord must make available a copy of the EPC at the time of viewing.

How can a landlord avoid dishing out EPC’s like confetti? Lets consider how many times have you turned up to conduct a viewing only to realise within seconds that the prospective tenant is simply not suitable…if this is the this case the law allows the landlord to use his discretion if they believe that

“the prospective tenant is unlikely to have sufficient funds to rent the property or is not genuinely interested in renting that type of property”

Or

“they are unlikely to be prepared to rent out the property to the prospective tenant” (although this does not authorize unlawful discrimination)”

Landlords found guilty of not producing the EPC in accordance with the law will face fines of £200 upwards. However compliance can be greatly simplified by Landlords using online letting services such as www.discountletting.co.uk where the Landlord will have the facility to display the EPC graph on-line thereby removing any risk of falling fowl of the law!

Having covered why the EPC is required and when it will be required, we should now turn our attention to validity and cost; The government has resisted calls for the Landlord EPC to be an annual requirement such as the Gas Safety certificate, and has granted the EPC a 10 year lifespan. However if a landlord undertakes any works to the property that may improve the energy efficiency they would be well advised to obtain a new EPC.

The Government predicts a cost of around £100 for an EPC on an average sized residential property, but EPC CHOICE are offering an exclusive discounted rate to readers of PropertyInvestmentTips.co.uk.

For all surveys undertaken prior to the 1st October 2008 the cost for each Landlord EPC will be discounted from our standard rate of £95.00 to £65.00 inc VAT exclusively for readers of PropertyInvestmentTips.co.uk.

If you are currently mid tenancy or even a few weeks into a new tenancy agreement EPC Choice have developed a product for Landlords wishing to obtain an EPC now – Our unique preEPC© means that your energy survey can be undertaken now but the lodgment of the certificate can be delayed until the property is next marketed. The landlord then benefits from the maximum 10 year validity of the EPC and also has the opportunity to undertake any of the specified improvements.

Finally, if as a landlord you are asking yourself what benefits the EPC is bringing to you then consider this – with energy costs rising on almost a daily basis tenants will be actively seeking out energy efficient properties ahead of those not making the grade.

Higher Rating = Higher Rents & Less Voids

Chris Grant is a qualified Energy Assessor and Director of epc choice

www.epcchoice.com
08452 601 606