At the most recent PEPA Conference, Olivia Haslam, Deputy Director for Net Zero Buildings Strategy at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), announced that the long-awaited consultation on Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) reform will be launched later this year.

Although no specific dates have been provided, it was acknowledged that the EPC Reform consultation must be published ahead of the recently announced consultation on domestic Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES), which is earmarked for December 2024.

The announcement follows growing calls from industry for EPC reform, as well as the government’s own EPC Action Plan published in 2020 and an initial call for evidence on EPCs back in 2018.

EPC Reform Consultation Expected this Winter

What is an Energy Performance Certificate?

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is a legally valid document that provides an energy efficiency rating (displayed on an A-G scale) in relation to a property’s running costs. This rating currently takes into account the potential energy performance of the property and its services.

The EPC will also show:

A breakdown of a property’s energy performance.
Its environmental impact.
Recommendations for improvements.
Estimated energy use alongside potential savings.

EPCs play a crucial role in retrofitting the UK’s buildings. They enable stakeholders to assess the performance of a building stock and can inform policy, finance and household decision making.

Why is EPC Reform needed?

Calls for the reform of EPCs have steadily increased over the years and a number of organisations from across the industry, including Elmhurst, have highlighted issues with EPCs and provided recommendations for positive change, to ensure that they are fit-for-purpose.

The proposed changes to EPCs include: the introduction of new metrics, such as cost rating, fabric rating, and heating system type; upgraded recommendations to align with decarbonisation goals; a reduction in the validity period; and more accessibility of EPC data.

Elmhurst’s thoughts:

Elmhurst welcomes the announcement of the EPC Reform consultation. This consultation will serve as a key milestone for the industry and lay the foundation for more accurate, reliable and fit-for-purpose EPCs.

Elmhurst has been calling for changes to the EPC since 2019. Initially introduced as a cost-based metric, the EPC currently only estimates how cheap or expensive a home is to run. As they are typically valid for 10 years, this also means many are now out of date.

EPCs must change to help drive policies for cutting carbon emissions. The EPC should be reformed to show the ‘three Cs’:

Energy Consumption
Energy Cost, and
Carbon emissions.

Furthermore, to tell the full energy efficiency story of a building, three crucial pieces of information are required. This ‘Golden Triangle’ of information includes:

Asset rating: the predicted energy cost and consumption of the building, based upon nominal or average occupancy patterns.
Occupancy rating: the predicted energy consumption of the building, based on the people using it.
Energy consumption: what energy the building uses to run, ideally based on data from smart meters.

Finally, we believe that each EPC should be renewed every three years, with re-assessment and re-issue required whenever there is a change to a building that impacts its energy performance.

These reforms would ensure that EPCs allow landlords, homeowners and the government to upgrade the energy efficiency of our existing housing stock, as well as support energy-efficient retrofit, reduce dependence on the grid, and inform net zero policies.

Elmhurst will keep members updated on any further development relating to the EPC Reform consultation.

Read the Elmhurst Almanac

The Elmhurst Almanac provides a thorough round-up of the significant industry developments and outlines some of our own call to actions, including on EPC Reform.

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