News Items

h1. The new legislation for Energy Performance Certificates on rental properties. Many landlords will be aware that property that is for sale in England &Wales requires an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) to be supplied to the purchaser as part of the Home Information Pack (HIP). This requirement will be applied to let property as from 1st October 2008, for both residential and commercial sectors. The provisions are part of The Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections)(England and Wales) Regulations 2007. The requirement is set out in regulation 5 which demands that a prospective tenant be provided with an EPC at the earliest opportunity and certainly prior to entering into any contract to rent out the property. The regulation goes on to state that the certificate must be provided at the earlier of the prospective tenant being provided with written details about the building or the prospective tenant viewing the building. If the prospective tenant consents the certificate can be provided electronically. EPCs are provided by accredited energy inspectors as they are for HIPs. Energy Inspectors will need to undergo training and assessment by one of a number of government-approved organisations and will then need to pay an annual subscription to maintain their status. Note that the only requirement for let property is to provide an EPC and that no other part of the HIPS regulations applies to rental property. EPCs remain valid for 10 years or until another certificate is produced for the same property. From 1st October 2008 Landlords will need to get an EPC for their properties that are being marketed to new tenants. There will be no need to get EPCs for current tenancies or renewals to the same tenants. The EPC will then need to be renewed every ten years. Please contact us for recommendations of a local Energy Inspector. We are currently being quoted between £80 and £100 for an EPC.