Energy Performance Certificates rolled out to rental properties

Whether you’re a homeowner or renting your property, there’s now no reason not to know the energy efficiency of your home. From today (1 October), all properties will be required to have an Energy Performance Certificate either at point of sale, or when the property is let to a new tenant. This means that if you are looking for a new home you can now find out free of charge, the energy efficiency of your prospective property and gain an indication of how much the home will cost to run. WWF-UK’s Sustainable Homes Policy Officer, Zoe Leader explains why this is an important step in reducing the footprint of our homes, and not least, the size of our energy bills.

“A growing number of us are now realising that a few simple measures in the home can help reduce our carbon emissions and lead to reduced energy bills. Energy efficiency is not something to aspire to but something we can all readily achieve with our homes. But how many of us know the best course of action to reduce household CO2 emissions and slash those gas and electricity bills? That’s where Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) come in. Since their first introduction last year, WWF-UK has pointed out the value of EPCs as a means of helping homeowners identify what improvements are needed in their property to reduce its carbon emissions. EPC’s provide homeowners and, as of today, tenants with valuable information about how much CO2 is being released into the environment from their home as well as providing guidance on how this can be reduced through a range of measures, leading to reduced energy bills.

EPCs can play a vital role in furthering public understanding of the impact our homes have on the environment but WWF acknowledges that there is still some way to go in encouraging homeowners and landlords to carry out the advised energy efficiency improvements. We would therefore like to see the Government and energy companies introduce further financial incentives for carrying out these improvements. We are encouraged by the Government’s recent proposals to insulate all of Britain’s homes by 2020, and offer free energy efficiency improvements to any home scoring the lowest EPC ratings of F or G.{Zoe I can’t remember details of this. Please confirm}. However, what is needed is an ambitious approach to our existing homes to ensure they all achieve their energy efficiency potential by the end of the decade. WWF would now like to see the Government introduce a long-term strategy for addressing the flaws in our current housing stock that contribute 27 per cent of the UK’s CO2 emissions.

Our homes can provide the deep cut in CO2 emissions that are required to help the UK meet our climate change targets and addressing their failings should therefore be a priority for the Government. We eagerly await the publication of the Government’s Low Carbon Homes Strategy in the coming months and hope it contains a serious commitment to improve all homes in the UK, not just those that are the easiest to target.

For further details on Energy Performance Certificates please click here