Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) meaning

Use this checklist when representing the seller in the disposal of a registered freehold residential property, whether offered with vacant possession or burdened by a lease or multiple leases. It is not comprehensive and will not address every eventuality in every transaction. You should always consider if there are additional matters that require attention. It does not purport to be a complete guide for every case. Preliminary matters Have you taken instructions from the client? Robust due diligence and effective transaction management depend on a clear grasp of the seller’s objectives and the proposed sale terms. Obtain full instructions, and clarify any elements of your brief that are unclear or out of the ordinary. Consider whether further specialist input is required; for example, planning advice where completion is conditional upon planning permission being secured. The table below sets out some of the principal points on which instructions should be obtained at the outset. This list is not comprehensive, and you may need to request information about additional...

During any due diligence, a purchaser should establish whether an energy performance certificate (EPC) and a recommendation report are required, and then confirm that a valid EPC has been provided. In a multi-let building, several EPCs may be needed for different parts of the property. An EPC allows the buyer to assess the building’s energy efficiency. It sets out a rating that can be benchmarked against the average for comparable stock. A poor score may negatively affect the property’s value. A recommendation report must accompany the EPC unless there is no reasonable potential to improve performance against the energy standards currently in force. However, owners are not legally obliged to follow the recommendations. See our Overviews: Energy performance certificates and minimum energy efficiency requirements (MEES)—overview and Energy and renewable apparatus in buildings—overview, and our Practice Notes: Energy performance certificates (EPCs)—what are they and when are they required? and Energy performance certificates (EPCs)—issues for commercial landlords and tenants. Do the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations...

This Checklist is intended for situations where you act for the buyer acquiring a registered freehold or leasehold commercial property, whether with vacant possession or already let under one or more leases. It is not comprehensive and cannot anticipate every scenario in every deal. You should always assess if any further points require attention. It is assumed that: the property is not subject to any residential tenancies; and the seller is solvent This Checklist covers these principal areas: Preliminary matters Is the buyer using finance to acquire the property? Before exchange of contracts Are you ready to exchange? Exchange of contracts Post exchange steps Between exchange and completion Are you ready to complete? Completion Post completion Preliminary matters See also Practice Note: Transferring commercial property—a practical guide — Preliminary matters. Are the buyer’s instructions and intended use for the property clear? Strong due diligence and effective...

This Practice Note outlines how the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 (MEES Regs 2015), SI 2015/962, affect both landlords and tenants of non-domestic private rented (NDPR) property. It explores the interface between the MEES Regs 2015, SI 2015/962 and the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954), considers challenges for landlords and tenants when subletting NDPR premises that are substandard, examines points arising for a landlord with a consent exemption on assignment, highlights due diligence considerations, and flags issues in real estate finance transactions where the asset is substandard (that is, holds an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of ‘F’ or ‘G’). It forms part of our Practical Notes series on minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES). Under MEES Regs 2015, SI 2015/962, reg 27, a landlord must not let substandard NDPR property unless: 'relevant energy efficiency improvements' have been carried out (MEES Regs 2015, SI 2015/962, reg 29); or an exemption applies (consent, devaluation or temporary exemptions). ...

FORTHCOMING CHANGE : The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 obtained Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. For guidance on the Act’s effect on residential tenancies in England, see Practice Note: Renters' Rights Act 2025—key provisions. Law Society guidance on green leases The Law Society’s Guidance on Green Leases and Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards sets out what green lease drafting involves, what this means for solicitors and their clients, why green leases matter, how they affect the market and client demand, and model green lease clauses. It covers commercial property in England and Wales only. The key points are summarised below. What is green lease drafting? ‘Green lease drafting’ refers to provisions by which landlord and tenant assume clear responsibilities and obligations to minimise carbon emissions linked to the sustainable development, operation and occupation of a property. Examples include energy efficiency measures, such as obtaining and/or maintaining an energy performance certificate (EPC), data sharing—eg utilities consumption, waste reduction, management and recycling, using sustainable materials for repairs and...

This Practice Note considers how the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 (MEES Regs 2015), SI 2015/962, affect both landlords and tenants of non-domestic private rented property, and sets out the enforcement and compliance powers of the local weights and measures authority. It also outlines the level of financial and publication penalties, the issuing of compliance notices, and a landlord’s rights to seek review and appeal. It forms part of our series of Practice Notes on MEES... MEES Regs 2015, SI 2015/962, reg 27 states that a landlord must not let a substandard non-domestic private rented (NDPR) property—one with an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of ‘F’ or ‘G’—unless: ‘relevant energy efficiency improvements’ are carried out (MEES Regs 2015, SI 2015/962, reg 29), or one of the exemptions (consent, devaluation or temporary exemptions) applies See Practice Note: Minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES)—non-domestic property—exemptions and PRS Exemptions Register... Enforcement and compliance MEES Regs 2015, SI 2015/962, chapter...

In England, landlords cannot serve a section 21 notice while they are failing to meet prescribed regulatory duties, as set out in section 21A(1) of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988). Where any such duty is breached, service is barred. The rules currently in effect are the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations 2015, SI 2015/1646. Compliance requires the landlord to supply the tenant with: an energy performance certificate, under the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, SI 2012/3118; a gas safety certificate, under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, SI 1998/2451; and a copy of ‘How to rent: the checklist for renting in England’, published by the Department for Communities and Local Government as required...

The changes brought about by the Deregulation Act 2015 Section 21A of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988) was introduced by section 38 of the Deregulation Act 2015 (DA 2015), and covers all tenancies created on or after 1 October 2015. Under HA 1988, s 21A, a landlord must satisfy the relevant ‘prescribed requirements’ before a notice can validly be served pursuant to HA 1988, s 21. Those ‘prescribed requirements’ are set out in the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations 2015 (Prescribed Requirements Regs 2015), SI 2015/1646. In effect, the new HA 1988, s 21A states that a notice under subsections (1) or (4) of section 21 cannot be given in relation to an assured shorthold tenancy of a dwelling-house in England while the landlord is in breach of a prescribed requirement. It further provides that the matters capable of being prescribed are obligations placed on landlords by any enactment that concern: (a) the state and condition of dwelling-houses and their common parts; (b) the...

Under regulation 2 of the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/1646), the prescribed obligations apply to tenancies granted on or after 1 October 2015, but exclude statutory periodic tenancies beginning on or after 1 October 2015 where they followed an AST granted before that date. Consequently, if the original fixed-term tenancy was granted on or after 1 October 2015, the prescribed requirements apply to both the fixed term and also to the statutory periodic tenancy thereafter arising on expiry of that term...