Megan Harris, associate solicitor in Blandy & Blandy’s commercial property team, discusses the Government’s recently announced consultation on the energy performance of buildings.

On December 4 the Government announced a consultation on potential changes to Energy Performance Certificates (EPC), Display Energy Certificates (DEC) and Air Conditioning Inspection Reports (ACIR) in England and Wales.

The consultation will explore ways in which these documents can provide better information and be more accessible to allow owners and occupiers to make informed investments and ultimately improve energy performance of buildings.

Since the current rules were introduced, the Government has new priorities to deliver clean power by 2030 and net zero by 2050 and they recognise that changes are needed to the current rules to meet these priorities.

What are the current rules?

EPCs are currently valid for 10 years and a valid EPC is only required at the point of a sale or lease being proposed so many EPCs do not need to be renewed when they expire. Certain public authority buildings are required to have a DEC.  ACIRs are mandatory inspections carried out by accredited assessors for air conditioning systems with an output over certain levels.

What is the consultation about?

The consultation includes proposed reforms to the regime in the following key areas:

  1. Improving the current metrics used to determine the ratings for EPCs and providing information that is easier to understand. Expanding the number of metrics used rather than a single headline (A-G) rating is also being considered.
  2. Reducing the validity period of EPCs and DECs. They are also considering requiring a valid EPC throughout the lease and before a property is marketed for sale or rent as well as in other circumstances where they are not currently required (eg for short term rental properties and heritage buildings).
  3. Managing energy certificate quality by increasing energy assessor training, standards and accreditation to reduce fraud and errors. Improving compliance and enforcement by increasing penalties and potentially changing the bodies that are responsible for enforcement.
  4. Improving accessibility of data by removing cancelled certificates after two years, removing opt-out from public access and expanding data sharing.
  5. Strengthening the quality of ACIRs by redesigning them to make them clearer and easier to understand costs of improvements as well as increasing penalties as compliance is believed to be very low.

Conclusion

It is widely understood that the current regime needs to be modernised and reformed to encourage the improvement of the energy performance of buildings which would lower costs for owners and occupiers, decrease carbon output and reduce overall energy demand.

Any changes to the EPC metrics are likely to be introduced in the second half of 2026 as there will need to be time for a transition to the new system and metrics. The consultation closes on February 26, 2025 so we can expect further recommendations and updates following this.

Full details of the consultation can be found via the gov.uk website.

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