Domestic Energy Assessors
New legislation in Scotland affecting all Landlords and House Sellers
What is an Energy Performance Certificate?
An EPC is similar to the energy performance certificates now provided with domestic appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines. The EPC provides a rating for the energy performance of a home from A to G, where A is very efficient and G is very inefficient. The EPC shows two things about the house: the energy efficiency rating (this is based on how much the home would cost to run) the environmental impact rating (this is based on how much carbon dioxide is released into the environment because of the home).
The rating is based on factors such as age, property layout, construction, heating, lighting, and insulation. The ratings are standard so a tenant can compare the energy efficiency of one home easily with another. The typical rating for a home is D or E. The certificate also provides information about how much it is likely to cost the tenant to run the home. These estimated costs are based on:
• standard assumptions about a property which include the number of occupants and how long it is heated a day
• average fuel prices when the EPC was produced – these could be up to 10 years old.
The actual running costs will vary depending on the current fuel costs and the lifestyle of the tenants. A recommendation report forms part of the certificate. This provides a range of improvement measures which could improve the energy performance of the home.
The EPC legislation for Scotland came into effect from 4 January 2009.
What does this mean in practice?
You need to provide an EPC whenever a home* in the social or private rented sector is let to a new tenant. You must make the EPC available free of charge to prospective tenants at the earliest opportunity. This should be when they are first given written information about the property or view it, and before any rental contract is entered into. EPCs are valid for 10 years and can be reused as many times as required within that period. It is not necessary to commission a new EPC each time there is a change of tenant although landlords may commission EPCs for these properties at any time to prepare for a change in tenant. If a newer EPC has been produced for a home within the ten year period, only the most recent one is valid. The EPC provides prospective tenants with information about how energy efficient a property is that they are considering renting. An EPC is not required for any property that was occupied before 4 January 2009
and which continues to be occupied after that date by the same tenant.
The EPC must be made available free of charge at the earliest possible opportunity and no later than the time when written particulars are provided to a tenant or when a viewing is conducted or if neither of these occur, before any form of agreement is signed. Failure to adhere to these regulations can result in a penalty charge of around £200 for each breach.
Houses for sale now need to have a Home Report unless they went on the market prior to 1st December 2008. Although you will not require a Home Report if your house is already on the market at 1 December, you will need to obtain an Energy Performance Certificate ("EPC") if your house will still be on the market after January 4, 2009. This is because there is a separate duty arising from European law to make the EPC available to any prospective buyer of the house after January 4, 2009.
