As a result of Government legislation as from October 2008 all landlords and letting agents are legally required to supply a Commercial or Non-Domestic EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) to all prospective tenants. This legislation covers all landlords and letting agents throughout England and Wales.Currently all landlords and letting agents are required to have a Commercial EPC in place before they put one of their properties on the market to let. Unfortunately there are still a number of landlords and letting agents who are unaware of their responsibility when it comes to having Commercial EPCs created for their properties. Furthermore, failure to produce a Commercial EPC could lead a landlord or letting agent into conflict with the Local Trading Standards Authority, who can issue a £200 fine per property.
Having a Commercial EPC in place is of benefit for landlords and letting agents for various reasons:
- A Commercial EPC which shows a property to be very energy-efficient will make that property more attractive to potential tenants. This can help reduce time in the letting process which means that properties will not be left vacant for very long – therefore saving the landlord or letting agent what could be a great deal of money.
- Once a Commercial EPC has been created for a rental or let property it is then valid for up to 10 years, so even if a property has several different tenants over the space of 10 years a landlord or letting agent will not be required to have a new Non-Domestic EPC created. However this changes if any structural alterations are made to the property i.e. The heating system changed, the room plan is altered or a conservatory is built on to the property. Having such alterations will obviously alter the energy efficiency of the property and therefore invalidate the previous Energy Performance Certificate.
In the UK, there are now a number of grants available for landlords to help them to improve the energy efficiency of their properties after a Commercial EPC has been created. These grants can cover such energy efficiency improvement measures as – improving the cavity wall, floor and roof insulation on a property, Double glazing, help with the installation of a self condensing boiler and replacing light bulbs with energy-efficient light bulbs.
The requirement for landlords and letting agents to have a Commercial EPC produced for each of their properties which is going to be back on the market seems like an additional cost. However, it is actually beneficial to everyone involved. Potential tenants are able to see the energy efficiency of a property, which could make them more likely to rent to let that property and landlords and letting agents can save money in the long run.