File 02: Energy Performance Certificates
What an EPC is, what its rating does and does not prove, and how to read one without over-reading it.
The file guide
Working guides on this file
Energy Performance Certificates An EPC vs Your Actual Energy Bills Why certificate estimates and real bills diverge, which differences are normal, and how to use both documents together without mistaking one for the other. Energy Performance Certificates EPC Bands A to G What EPC bands A to G mean, how a home moves between bands, and why two homes in the same band can still feel very different. Energy Performance Certificates EPC Data and Registers Where EPC data lives, who can access it, what it can be used for, and how to check a certificate's authenticity and history. Energy Performance Certificates EPC Expiry and Renewal What happens when an EPC expires, how renewal works, what changes on renewal, and how to plan renewals so transactions and lettings are not delayed. Energy Performance Certificates EPC Limitations to Know The honest limits of EPCs: defaults, simplifications, unusual homes, and situations where a certificate should not be the main basis for a decision. Energy Performance Certificates EPC Recommendations, Explained How EPC recommendations are generated, what their modelled savings and indicative costs mean, and how to turn a list into a sensible order of investigation. Energy Performance Certificates EPC Validity and When You Need One How long an EPC lasts, the transactions and lettings that trigger a need for one, and what happens when a certificate expires or is out of date. Energy Performance Certificates EPCs and Energy Advice Services How to use an EPC with energy advice services: what advisers can do with a certificate, what they cannot, and how to choose and brief an advice service. Energy Performance Certificates EPCs and Home Improvement Grants, in General How EPCs can feature in grant and support schemes in general terms, what schemes may ask for, and why eligibility must always be checked against current scheme rules. Energy Performance Certificates EPCs for Buyers How a buyer should use an EPC during a purchase: what to check on viewing, what to ask the seller and agent, and how the certificate should and should not affect price. Energy Performance Certificates EPCs for Landlords How landlords should use EPCs across a letting: validity, tenant information, letting rules in general, and planning improvements between tenancies. Energy Performance Certificates EPCs for New Builds How EPCs work for newly built homes, how they differ from EPCs for existing homes, and what buyers of new homes should check. Energy Performance Certificates EPCs for Sellers How a seller should prepare an EPC, present it honestly in marketing, and handle recommendations and questions from buyers without overselling the certificate. Energy Performance Certificates EPCs for Tenants How tenants should read an EPC before signing, what to ask a landlord or agent, and how the certificate relates to bills, comfort and repairs during a tenancy. Energy Performance Certificates What an EPC Rating Measures The modelled quantities behind an EPC rating, how standard assumptions shape the result, and what the rating leaves out.