EPC Rating of FWhy do EPC’s matter to Landlords in Hillingdon?
I’ve been talking to a landlord thinking about buying an older property in West Drayton and I asked him what the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating was? He was unsure, but it turned out it was an F. Which is very low. In the end he decided to walk away from the house and this was a contributing factor.
The government are consulting at the moment, but the 2011 Energy Act calls for letting property with an F or a G rating to be illegal from April 2018. There will be expectations and caveats such as if you do all the required work and the property is still an F it will be okay to let. The admirable objective is to make UK housing stock more fuel efficient.
To make the process transparent it’s a legal requirement for Estate Agents or Letting Agents to have ordered an EPC when letting or marketing a property. So they should be available on request or obvious in marketing information. Often the information can be found on Rightmove or Zoopla but not always! Ask the agent if not.
The rating and work needed to improve property can be found on the national EPC database at www.epcregister.com, you just need a postcode and door number for the house you are interested in.
Below an E rating? If you do own or are thinking of buying a property with a low rating someone is going to have to pay for that improvement either through a Green Deal or the landlord pays for it directly before April 2018. It is being consulted on so might slip but like my landlord forewarned is forearmed.
Listed buildings might get dispensations and there are other exemptions.
The upside for investors willing to invest to get the EPC rating up is there will be opportunities as the price of F&G rated property drops. 
Jeremy Wasden of Belvoir Lettings Uxbridge
