letting agents maidenhead appletons on 10 Mar 2008 11:07 pm
Energy Performance Certificates
Starting in October of 2008, the residential property landlords will need to provide a Energy Performance Certificate (EPC ) for their property to any prospective tenant; similar to the Home Information Packs for the residential property sales, which were introduced very recently.
The EPC will contain information on the property’s energy efficiency rating on a scale of A to G, along with some additional relevant data, such as general recommendations suggesting ways of improving the energy efficiency of the building.
The government claims that the EPCs will enable the potential tenants, owners and occupiers understand the energy efficiency of the property.
It will not be mandatory to obtain an Energy Performance Certificate for existing tenants. An EPC is expected to be valid for 10 years but can be renewed earlier if the landlord wishes to reflect any improvements made. If a valid certificate exists when changing tenants no new certificate will be required.
However, similar to the HIPs, we are very skeptical that the EPCs will improve the rental process but will actually adversely affect the rental market. There are already many legal obligations on the residential landlord.
