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Energy Performance Certificates for Rented Accommodation
17 03 2008
From 01 October 2008 all residential landlords will be required to provide an Energy Performance Certificate (“EPC”) on request from a tenant.
Existing tenants
- The new legislation does not apply to existing tenants.
Prospective tenants
- It is a mandatory requirement that you provide on request, an EPC to any prospective tenant from 01 October 2008
- There are exceptions for providing an EPC to prospective tenants, say for example, if you know they do not have the financial resources to rent the Property, and they are therefore very unlikely to eventually rent the Property.
New tenants
- You must provide an EPC to all new tenants at the beginning of the tenancy, even if they don’t request a copy of it
General provisions
- There is nothing in the legislation that restricts you renting out a Property where an EPC comes back with a poor rating. There may eventually be restrictions on the circumstances where an EPC assessor can refuse to grant you a certificate in certain circumstances.
- You cannot charge your tenant for a copy of the EPC
- You can provide an electronic EPC but only if the tenant agrees to receive it by e-mail
- Once you have obtained an EPC, it is valid for 10 years
- The consequence of not providing an EPC on request is that you will be served with Notice requiring compliance and you will be served with a Penalty Charge Notice requiring you to pay a fine.