Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
Efficiency band from A to G
An Energy Performance Certificate rates a home's energy efficiency from A, the most efficient, to G, the least. An accredited assessor produces it, estimating running costs and listing the improvements worth making. One is required whenever a home is sold or let, and it lasts 10 years. Every UK nation requires a certificate, but each sets its own rules.
What This Means
The rating estimates what this home costs to run, not your actual bills. A home rated B or C should be cheap to heat and hold its warmth. An F or G usually points to solid walls, thin loft insulation or an old boiler. You would feel that as draughts, cold rooms and high heating bills. No band stops you living here; the band only constrains you if you plan to let the home out. This is one of the few things on this report that lenders and insurers price directly: an A or B rating qualifies for some lenders' green mortgage rates, while a few restrict lending on F and G homes.
Score Ranges
A and B
81 to 100Very low running costs, from modern insulation, efficient heating and often solar panels.
C and D
55 to 80Average efficiency, where most UK homes sit. Improvements are optional rather than urgent.
E and F
21 to 54E meets the current rental minimum in England and Wales; F falls below it and needs a registered exemption to let.
G
1 to 20The lowest band, with high running costs, and below the England and Wales rental minimum like F.
Practical Advice
- Compare the certificate's Current rating with its Potential rating to see what the recommended work would achieve.
- Ask a heating engineer to quote for the improvements the certificate recommends before you agree a price.
- Ask the seller what insulation or heating work has been done since the certificate was issued.
- Ask your conveyancer which letting standard applies here if you plan to rent the home out.
Additional Information
From 1 October 2030 the letting standard in England and Wales rises. Rented homes will need a fabric rating equivalent to EPC C, plus either a heating system or a smart readiness standard. Landlord spending is capped at £10,000 per property. Scotland is consulting on its own standard from April 2028; Northern Ireland sets none. Scotland keeps its own register, so the link below covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland only.