How To Get An Energy Performance Certificate For Your Property

Foxtons

Energy Performance Certificates or EPCs for short provide prospective tenants and buyers with a clear idea of how energy efficient a property is. An EPC contains details pertaining to what the property’s energy costs are and even gives ways that you can make the property more efficient so that it uses less energy.

These were introduced back in 2007 under the Home Information Pack (HIP) scheme, which has since been abolished. Any property in the United Kingdom (UK) that is being sold or let out, requires an EPC.

 

Cost Of An EPC

Getting an EPC for a property can cost you anywhere between £45 and £100 plus Value Added Tax (VAT) depending on where you are located in the UK. With this variation in price, it is recommended that you do some research to compare prices before going ahead with any company or individual. In order to get the very best price, you should avoid getting one from an estate agent and instead get it done directly with a qualified assessor.

Other things that can have an impact on the price that you will pay to get an EPC include where the property is located (urban or rural), the type of property (house or flat), and the number of bedrooms that it had (single or multiple).

 

Getting An EPC

An EPC must be produced by a fully qualified Domestic Energy Assessor. There are a number of different websites out there that contain lists of all of the assessors that are within your local area, along with their contact details so that you can get a quote from them.

Obviously you need one of these if you are planning on selling or renting your property, but even where this is not the case, you may want to think about getting one anyway so that you can see how efficient your property is and what can be done to improve its rating, and lower your energy bills in the process.

The Utility Bidder website has lots of good information on how you can get a good EPC rating for your property.

 

What An EPC Tells You 

With an EPC, you have a clear and easy to interpret guide on how energy efficient your property and what impact it has on the environment. The rating ranges from A to G, with G being the worst possible rating for those properties that are not efficient at all, and A being the best rating, showing that the property is highly energy efficient. In addition to this, the EPF provides suggestions on how the property can be made more efficient in order to improve its rating further. Doing this will reduce the amount of carbon that the property is responsible for producing, as well as lowering your energy bills.

An EPC contains specific details about your property, including its location, its age, its size, and its condition. Each one of these things are considered when recommendations are made for improving the rating of the property.

Popular on True Activist