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) (which requires all social homes to reach EPC C by 2030).

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.

We encourage you to read these consultation documents and consider an organisational response. However, the National Housing Federation is also preparing a response on behalf of our members. To ensure our response is as reflective as possible of our membership, we would appreciate it if you could share your views with us.

The consultation is open until 26 February 2025. Please contact us by 10 February 2025 with your answers to the queries in this document, to arrange a more in-depth discussion or share you own organisation’s response to the consultation.

We have produced a briefing to outline the consultation and suggest questions to help you consider your response.