EPC rules when marketing a property in the UK

When does the EPC have to exist, and whose job is it?

The Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 put the first duty on the seller or landlord: before the building is put on the market they must commission an EPC if no valid one already exists. The second duty is the agent's. Before marketing the building, a person acting on behalf of the seller or landlord must be satisfied that an EPC has been commissioned. Being satisfied means having something on file, a booking confirmation or an assessor's job reference, rather than a verbal assurance from a vendor who is already on holiday.

There is then a clock. The seller, landlord or their agent must use all reasonable efforts to obtain a valid EPC within seven days of the property being put on the market. If reasonable efforts have failed, a further 21 days is allowed. Twenty eight days is the outside limit, and the seven day period starts the day the property goes on the market rather than the day someone remembers to book an assessor.

An EPC is valid for ten years and can be reused as many times as needed inside that period, so a large part of the job is checking the register before commissioning anything. On sale or let the certificate must be made available free of charge at the earliest opportunity, and no later than the point at which written information about the building is first supplied or the point at which a viewing takes place, whichever comes first.

Where does the rating actually have to appear?

Regulation 11 requires that where a building is offered for sale or rent, the energy performance rating shown on the certificate is stated in any advertisement of the sale or rental in commercial media. The government guidance defines commercial media as newspapers and magazines, written material produced by the seller, landlord or agent describing the building, and the internet. In practice that captures the portal listing, your own website, the PDF brochure, the window card and the printed particulars.

Two details save arguments. The rating is the letter band, for example C. There is no requirement to display the full certificate in the advertisement. And the duty bites on the advertisement, which means the count is per advertisement rather than per property, so an unrated property advertised across four channels is four exposures rather than one.

What are the penalties, and who enforces them?

Local weights and measures authorities, in practice trading standards officers, enforce the regulations. A fixed penalty charge of 200 pounds may be issued in four situations, set out in the government guidance.

Failure	Who is liable	Penalty
No valid EPC made available free of charge to the prospective or eventual buyer or tenant	Seller or landlord	200 pounds
No EPC commissioned before the property was put on the market	Seller or landlord, or the agent who did not ensure it was commissioned	200 pounds
EPC not secured using all reasonable efforts within seven days, and not obtained in the following 21 days	Seller, landlord or the person acting for them	200 pounds
Energy performance indicator missing from an advertisement in commercial media	Seller, landlord or the person acting for them	200 pounds

A trading standards officer can require a copy of the EPC for inspection, and it has to be produced within seven days. Enforcement action can be taken up to six months after a failure has been corrected, and a copy of an EPC can be requested up to six months after the last day for compliance. If a penalty charge notice is issued you can request a review from the local authority, and if the review goes against you there are 28 days to appeal to the county court from the day after the confirming notice is received.

Which properties do not need an EPC?

The exemptions are narrower than most vendors believe. A building is generally outside the requirement where it is protected as part of a designated environment or for its special architectural or historic merit and compliance with minimum energy performance requirements would unacceptably alter its character or appearance. That is a judgment, not an automatic listed building exemption, and the guidance suggests taking the local authority conservation officer's view where there is doubt.

The remaining categories are temporary buildings with a planned use of two years or less, residential buildings intended to be used for less than four months a year or where the owner could reasonably expect energy consumption to be under 25 per cent of all year round use, and stand alone buildings entirely detached from any other building with a total useful floor area under 50 square metres. There is also a demolition exemption where the site is suitable for redevelopment and the relevant consents exist. Holiday lets need an EPC only where the property is let for holiday purposes on arrangements of under 31 days per tenant, is rented out for four months or more in a twelve month period, and the occupier meets the energy costs.

How do Scotland and Northern Ireland differ, and what is changing?

Scotland runs the Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2008. Regulation 5A carries the advertising duty in similar terms: where a building is offered for sale or let, the owner must ensure any advertisement in commercial media states the energy performance indicator. The Scottish definition of written particulars turns on containing at least two descriptive elements such as photographs, floor plans, room sizes, measured area or proposed rent. Scotland also has a display duty at regulation 9 that has no England and Wales equivalent for dwellings, and a marketed home needs a Home Report whose energy report sits alongside the single survey and property questionnaire. Northern Ireland operates under its own Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008, with penalty charge notices at regulation 33 and county court appeals at regulation 37. The drafting differs from the England and Wales instrument, so check the Northern Ireland text rather than assuming the wording carries across.

The bigger change is coming to the certificate itself. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero confirmed in January 2026 that domestic EPCs move from a single cost metric to four headline metrics: fabric performance, heating system, smart readiness and energy cost, with secondary metrics for energy demand and carbon, and with the Home Energy Model replacing SAP underneath. The government said it aims to deliver this from October 2026 while acknowledging the timetable is ambitious, so treat the go live date as unsettled and watch for the implementation plan rather than telling landlords a firm month. The minimum rating a rental will have to reach, and the cost cap and date attached to it, sit in the 2030 EPC C requirement for rentals, which is policy rather than law and is routinely quoted with the wrong figures.

For lettings the direction is settled even where the date is far off. The existing minimum standard is EPC E with an investment cap of 3,500 pounds per property. The government response on privately rented homes confirms a move to an EPC C equivalent standard for all tenancies from 1 October 2030, measured against fabric performance plus either heating system or smart readiness, with a cost cap of 10,000 pounds per property or 10 per cent of property value where the affordability exemption applies, and a maximum local authority penalty of 30,000 pounds per breach. Landlords who ask what they should do this year want the honest answer, which is that the standard is confirmed, the metrics are new, and any work should be aimed at fabric first.

Every one of these duties shows up in the same place, the listing, which is why the energy band belongs on the same pre launch check as the rest of the disclosure fields in material information on UK property listings in 2026 and the wording rules in property description rules for UK estate agents.

Frequently asked questions

Can we put a property on the market before the EPC comes back?

Yes, provided it has been commissioned first and you are satisfied that it has. Marketing without a commissioned EPC is one of the four penalty situations. The certificate itself then has to be obtained inside seven days, with a further 21 days where reasonable efforts have failed.

Does the rating have to be on a social media post?

Commercial media covers written material produced by the agent describing the building, and the internet. A post that describes a specific property offered for sale or rent is doing the job of an advertisement, so the safe position is to include the band. The cost of including it is a single character.

Is the 200 pound penalty per property or per advert?

The guidance frames the advertising failure as a fixed penalty charge of 200 pounds per advertisement. A property advertised without a band across several channels can therefore attract more than one charge.

Do listed buildings automatically avoid needing an EPC?

No. The exemption applies where compliance with minimum energy performance requirements would unacceptably alter the building's character or appearance, which is a judgment about that specific building. Owners are expected to form a view and can ask the local authority conservation officer.

What should we tell landlords about EPC C by 2030?

That the standard is confirmed for all tenancies from 1 October 2030, that it is measured across two metrics rather than one, that the investment cap is 10,000 pounds per property, and that the certificate methodology is changing first. Fabric measures count under both the old and the new framing, so they are the least regrettable spend.

Sources

• The Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, regulation 7, legislation.gov.uk
• The Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, regulation 11, legislation.gov.uk
• A guide to energy performance certificates for the marketing, sale and let of dwellings, December 2017, Department for Communities and Local Government
• The Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2008, regulation 5A, legislation.gov.uk
• The Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008, legislation.gov.uk
• Home Report, mygov.scot
• Improving the energy performance of privately rented homes, government response, 2026, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
• EPC reforms and MEES for private rented property confirmed, 26 January 2026, Pinsent Masons
• The Home Energy Model: Energy Performance Certificates methodology, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Last verified: 2026-09-02