It is not uncommon for landlords and agents not to provide tenants with an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) for a property. The reasons for this might be a combination of the following factors:
- Landlords and agents see EPCs as another piece of costly red tape that are of no value
- The landlord or agent hopes the tenant feels the same way and won’t ask to see the EPC
- The landlord or agent would not want to advertise that the property has a low energy rating and will be costly to maintain
- Ignorance of current legislation on EPCs
Do landlords and agents have to provide tenants with an EPC? What must they provide and when?
The most recent piece of legal direction in this area is DIRECTIVE 2010/31/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 19 May 2010 on the energy performance of buildings (recast).
Article 12 states that when buildings or building units are rented out, the energy performance certificate or a copy thereof is shown to the prospective new tenant and handed over to the new tenant.
Section 22 of the same directive states that the prospective tenant of a building or building unit should, in the energy performance certificate, be given correct information about the energy performance of the building and practical advice on improving such performance.
This (Section22) would imply that simply giving the information from the first page of the EPC (the energy and environmental ratings) is not adequate.
In the UK, the most recent piece of legislation covering EPCs is The Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007
Part 1 Section 3 defines that someone becomes a prospective tenant in relation to a building when he—
(a)requests any information about the building from the relevant person or his agent for the purpose of deciding whether to rent the building;
(b)makes a request to view the building for the purpose of deciding whether to rent the building; or
(c)makes an offer, whether oral or written, to rent the building.
Part 2 Section 5 of the same legislation states that the relevant person shall make available free of charge a valid energy performance certificate to any prospective buyer or tenant—
(a)at the earliest opportunity; and
(b)in any event before entering into a contract to rent out the building or, if sooner, no later than whichever is the earlier of—
(i)in the case of a person who requests information about the building, the time at which the relevant person first makes available any information in writing about the building to the person; or
(ii)in the case of a person who makes a request to view the building, the time at which the person views the building.
I think there is an issue of openess and honesty in all of this. Give tenants the information they need to make the right decision for them. On the basis of this and the above, I would say best practice may look like this:
1. When publishing information about a property in printed media (e.g. newspapers), provide the energy and environmental ratings data.
2. When providing details online provide the energy and environmental ratings graphs and a link to the full EPC.
3. Show prospective tenants a copy of the full EPC at the earliest opportunity and if they request it, provide them with their own copy.
4. If you give out written information about the property (e.g. a brochure), provide a copy of the full EPC as standard.
5. Provide new tenants with a copy of the full EPC before they sign the Tenancy Agreement – ask them to sign to say they have received it as there is a penalty for failure to meet current legislation requirements.
What do you consider best practice for provision of EPCs?
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