Following the Prime Minister’s announcement yesterday, that a General Election will be held in early July, Elmhurst approached its counterparts in government to confirm whether the EPC Action Plan and recently announced changes to the EPC Data Sharing rules within the Energy Performance of Building Regulations would still go ahead as planned.

As anticipated, the amendment to the Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations will come into force as planned on June 24th. However, the consultation on the EPC Reform, which was previously scheduled for release before the summer recess, will be paused as a result of the general election.

The Government Department for Levelling Up Housing & Communities (DLUHC) will not be able to make comment on any future reform to the EPC between now and July 4th. However, following the election those involved with the consultation will work with relevant ministers to understand their views on EPC reform, and will be moving forward on that basis.

Moreover, there will be no changes to the introduction of RdSAP 10 and these timelines remain unchanged. Elmhurst continues to work with Registers, BRE and Government to get the software update over the line.

Elmhurst’s Managing Director, Stuart Fairlie, comments: “This comes as no surprise to us at Elmhurst. As much as a delay to this is not ideal, it is pragmatic given the circumstances. Regardless of the outcome of the election, we will continue to work with government in order to progress reforms to the EPC. We will be keeping a keen eye on the political parties over the next month or so, and it will be interesting to see their policy and intent with regards to energy efficiency and net zero.”