Energy Performance Certificates

An Energy Performance Certificate rates a property’s energy efficiency on a scale of A (most efficient) to G (least efficient). It also reports the property’s environmental impact. Issued by an accredited Domestic Energy Assessor; recorded on the publicly-searchable government register; valid for ten years from the date of issue.

A valid EPC must be in place before a tenant moves in. There is no exemption for private rented sector lettings. You can find any property’s current EPC by searching the Find an Energy Certificate service.

Under the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 — commonly the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) — a private rented residential property must have an EPC rating of at least E to be let lawfully. Properties rated F or G cannot be let unless a valid exemption is registered on the PRS Exemptions Register.

Penalty for letting a sub-standard property without a registered exemption: civil penalties of up to £5,000 in total per property under the current regime. Separately, Decent Homes Standard non-compliance will carry a civil penalty of up to £7,000 for a breach from 2035, with up to £40,000 for an offence (see section 3).

An EPC is not a condition of getting possession: the old rule that a landlord could not use section 21 without first giving the tenant an EPC went with section 21, and no Section 8 ground requires one (see section 5). Letting without one is still a breach in its own right.

The Decent Homes Standard, until now applicable to social housing only, is being extended to the private rented sector as part of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 reform package. The government confirmed in January 2026 that it applies to the private rented sector from 2035.

The standard sits alongside MEES rather than replacing it. Its enforcement layer introduces a separate civil penalty for Decent Homes Standard non-compliance — up to £7,000 for a breach and up to £40,000 for an offence — distinct from the £5,000 MEES penalty above, and applies from 2035.

Landlords whose properties do not currently meet a credible Decent Homes baseline should plan the works now — ahead of the enforcement window, not after it.

The government has decided to raise the MEES minimum from E to the equivalent of C. Its response to the consultation Improving the energy performance of privately rented homes: 2025 update, published on GOV.UK on 21 January 2026, sets the timetable:

• 1 October 2030 every private tenancy, new or existing, must meet the new standard, measured on the reformed EPC. There is no earlier date for new tenancies.
• 1 October 2029 a home rated C or above (Energy Efficiency Rating) on an EPC issued before this date counts as compliant until that EPC expires or is replaced.
• £10,000 the most a landlord must spend per property (10% of the value for homes worth under £100,000). If the home still falls short, a 10-year exemption can be registered.

The amending regulations are not yet made. The government will take new powers by Act of Parliament and aims for the statutory instrument to come into force in 2027; until 1 October 2030 the E floor in section 2 still applies. Under the new rules councils will be able to fine up to £30,000 per property, per breach.

A portfolio at EPC rating B sits one notch above the 2030 floor of C. A portfolio at C sits exactly at the 2030 floor — compliant, but with no headroom for assessor-variation on re-rating.

This is why we focus on B-and-C. We want a portfolio that is comfortable not just at today’s E floor but at the C floor the government plans for every tenancy from 1 October 2030.

Section 21 has been abolished since 1 May 2026. Every possession claim now runs through Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988, on a specific named ground, with the prescribed evidence the regime requires for that ground.

Under section 21 a landlord who had not given the tenant an EPC, a gas safety record or the How to Rent guide could not serve a valid notice. Those conditions went with section 21. No Section 8 ground makes an EPC or a gas safety record a condition of possession; what a Section 8 claim needs is the ground itself, the right notice, and, for some grounds, the evidence that ground requires. Deposit protection rules still matter in their own right.

A letting agent who lets a property without checking EPC validity hasn’t just exposed the landlord to MEES enforcement. They’ve left the landlord letting in breach of the EPC rules, and short of the evidence a tenant and a council can ask to see. We track EPC currency as part of the compliance maintenance bundled into our 10% management fee — see Landlords and Property Management.

Awaab’s Law — extending to the private rented sector through the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 — will come into force for private tenancies on a date still to be set, once section 60 is commenced and the Secretary of State makes the supporting regulations under section 10A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. The social-housing timescales in force since October 2025 are the model: emergency hazards investigated and made safe within 24 hours, and significant hazards investigated within 10 working days, with safety work within 5 working days of that investigation.

The hazards that most often trigger Awaab’s Law clocks are damp and mould. The single largest determinant of damp-and-mould risk in a property is the thermal envelope — the insulation, the windows, the ventilation strategy. Properties at EPC B and C tend to have modern fabric (post-2010 build standards, often MVHR-equipped), lower condensation risk, and significantly fewer mould-pathway repairs than older, sub-C-rated properties.

A B-rated property doesn’t eliminate Awaab’s Law risk. It does materially reduce the rate at which the law’s clocks start. See Awaab’s Law for the full duty regime.

New-build properties are typically constructed to a fabric standard that produces an A or B rating at first certification. MVHR (mechanical ventilation with heat recovery), high-spec glazing and modern insulation are now defaults rather than upgrades on prime central London new-build developments.

Harvey W James specialises in new-build lettings precisely because the operating profile — fabric-led efficiency, predictable condensation behaviour, well-understood snagging windows, integrated utility management — is what produces the B-default EPC rating across the portfolio. Pillar 2 of our positioning (new-build specialists) and the EPC-B-default position aren’t two claims. They are one claim, expressed twice.

See New-Build Specialists for the detail of the operational layer.

The public register is at find-energy-certificate.service.gov.uk. You can search by postcode or by an existing certificate’s Report Reference Number (RRN). The register shows the current rating, the assessor, the date of issue, and the date the certificate expires.

If you are a Harvey W James landlord and want a current EPC review across your portfolio — or want to plan EPC works to land at C-or-above before the 2030 floor takes effect — contact us using the details below.