An energy efficiency certificate, or EPC for short, is one of the many documents you need when selling or renting a home (if you sell, check out our handy list to make sure you have the rest). It tells a potential buyer or tenant how efficient their house is in terms of energy and assesses this on an alphabetical scale: from G (lowest; very inefficient) to A (highest; very efficient). Register yourself for Low EPC Cost UK by London Property Inspections.

It takes a little money to get an EPC for your property. But how much is a bit? Of course you don’t want to spend hours browsing through different price comparison sites, so we think we would do it for you and give you the information you need about why EPC are important, where you can get one and what a fair price is.

So why do I need an EPC?

It is a legal requirement, clear and simple. You must have an EPC before you market your property, either for sale or for rent. As a landlord, you must also provide the document to potential approved tenants as quickly as possible and all advertisements for renting a home must include your EPC rating from G-A.

Is it really that important?

Yes. Since May 2010 it is mandatory to have an EPC, whether you sell or rent a property. From April 2018 you can only rent a property to a new tenant if you have an EPC rating of E or higher, and the fines for not having this required documentation (in other words, breaking the law) can be substantial

Please note that the legislation for owners renting properties will change soon, so make sure you are aware of the new laws (coming into effect on April 1, 2020) to see if your EPC is still valid and if / when you need to update it

So of course you have to get an EPC, but where do you get it? And who should I choose to order it, the broker who sells or leaves the house? Or are you going for an independent site? Here is our opinion on the best course of action.

You may already have a valid EPC…

If the house has been sold or rented out in the last 10 years, there is a possibility that your EPC is still valid. You can go to the website of the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment and click on the Restore an energy efficiency certificate button. There you accept the conditions and enter your zip code. You must display nearby addresses. If yours is there, it must show the corresponding EPC. Check if it is valid from and to, and if it is between these dates, it should already be covered.

But do not forget that the legislation for homeowners renting out properties has changed. You now need an EPC rating of at least E to rent to a new or renovating tenant, which may mean that you must update both your property and your EPC if you do not meet that minimum. And soon (April 1, 2020) these restrictions will also apply to ongoing home ownership, so make sure you know the latest laws and act accordingly.

EPC Certificate Cost in UK

If you need to renew your EPC, how much can you expect to pay for a new one? First, let’s look at some external consultants that you deal with directly.

We tested some of these companies in 2018 and soon discovered that ultra-low EPC Certificate London price promises were sometimes a little misleading. For example, a website claimed to offer EPC from £ 30, but when we entered data for different areas of the country (a two-room apartment in the city at £ 200,000 and a four-bedroom suburban home at £ 430,000), the final price came out To be considerably longer.

It is also important to remember that without an EPC you cannot even put your property on the market, so you may have to wait for these external companies to finish evaluating other properties before they do theirs, leaving you a valuable time with your deductions. If you decide to follow the path of the external advisors, we recommend that you check again if the site you are dealing with is in the EPC register and approves it as legitimate.

If you want to follow the proven and outdated route by buying an EPC through a broker, you expect to pay between 75 and 120 pounds. On the positive side, these advisors are somehow linked to the agent so that they understand the need (and are encouraged) to make rapid progress. As a result, they can move faster than third-party sites, even if it may cost a little more.

If you want the ball to roll with your property as quickly as possible and do not yet have an EPC, it is generally a good idea to go to the safe. Click here for more information about EPC Cost UK