Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) reform

The NHF and others have been calling on the government for EPC reform for several years. In consultation with our members, we have raised concerns regarding the accuracy and reliability of EPCs which do not always incentivise the best approach to housing retrofit and heat decarbonisation. For example, the installation of clean heat such as a heat pump is rarely recommended or rewarded by the EPC system.

The current and forthcoming usage of EPCs has also extended well beyond the purposes of their original design, which was to inform residents about the energy usage of their home. In the social housing sector, EPCs now also underpin eligibility for government funding, including via Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, the ability to secure borrowing through ESG lending and government-backed retrofit loans, asset management and business planning strategies, and compliance with forthcoming regulations such as Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES).

We are therefore pleased to see that through a joint consultation from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), the government has brought forward proposals to overhaul the Energy Performance of Buildings regulatory regime, of which EPCs form the core.

This includes:

• An overhaul of the metrics for Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs).
• Important details of how this will interact with forthcoming Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards for social housing.
• Changes to EPC validity periods, trigger points and exemptions.
• Reforms to EPC data, Quality Assurance, Compliance and Enforcement.

The National Housing Federation has submitted a response on behalf of our members. Thank you to all members who fed into this response. Both the briefing we produced to help members feed into our response and our full response can be downloaded below.