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. Read the rest…