How important are EPCs to the energy efficiency drive?

PR executive Dhiren Mistry discusses new energy efficiency targets for England and Wales, and the future of the EPC.

By Dhiren Mistry
21 Oct 2024

There are seismic changes on the horizon for landlords, homeowners, housing associations and policy makers.

Delivering on its manifesto commitments, Labour has announced a fresh consultation on proposals that will require all rented homes to meet an EPC rating of C by 2030. It’s likely to mean landlords in England and Wales will need to make significant energy efficiency improvements to their properties.

While most in the industry believe reintroducing Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) Regulations is a necessary step towards improving the energy efficiency of the UK’s private rented sector housing stock, it increases pressure on government to update the energy performance certificate (EPC).  

EPCs are a legal document displaying an A-G rating in relation to a property’s energy costs.

Most commonly, an EPC is produced when a building is being built, sold, or rented, providing a standardised measure and making it possible to compare properties. Now it looks like it will be getting a much-needed facelift.
A current Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) (credit: Elmhurst Energy)
At a recent industry conference, the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) announced an EPC consultation would be released before the end of 2024, with “proposals for improvements to EPCs to make them more accurate and reliable.”
So, there is light at the end of the tunnel – and one of our clients, Elmhurst Energy, has made some important suggestions for ministers to consider. The most important of these is that a new EPC should certainly include the ‘three Cs’; energy consumption, energy cost and carbon emissions. At the moment, the EPC only measures energy cost, making them very limited.
The need for better homes will be driven by policy, but EPCs will benchmark and measure its success.

So, why does all this really matter?

Well, for a start, the UK has the oldest housing stock in Europe with households responsible for a colossal 40 per cent of our emissions.

And then there are our legal obligations to achieve carbon net zero by 2050, which means retrofitting around 29 million homes.

Massive numbers and a huge responsibility for everyone on the energy efficiency scene to ensure Britain stays on its net zero journey.

With the Future Homes Standard being introduced next year, EPCs will play an important role in relation to compliance to stricter standards and regulatory pressure. This will only increase as we approach the 2030 deadline and look further to 2050.

By Dhiren Mistry

21 Oct 2024

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