EPC requirements for landlords: the rules for rental property

A valid EPC before the home is let

An Energy Performance Certificate rates a home from A (most efficient) to G. Under the EPC regulations, the landlord or agent must:

• have one commissioned before the home is marketed to let;
• make it available free to a prospective tenant at the earliest opportunity, and no later than when they first send written details or the person views the home, whichever comes first;
• make sure the person who becomes the tenant is given a copy, free.

A certificate is valid for 10 years and can be used for any number of lets during that time. Trading Standards at the council enforces this, and the penalty for a home is £200.

For a renter, that means you should never have to ask twice. Check the certificate matches the address and floor area, and look at the date: one close to ten years old may not reflect the home today. You can search any certificate on GOV.UK’s register or with the EPC checker.

The minimum energy efficiency standard: band E

The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015, usually called MEES, set the floor. A private landlord can’t let a home rated F or G unless a valid exemption is registered. It applied to new tenancies from 1 April 2018 and to every covered tenancy, including existing ones, from 1 April 2020.

It covers assured tenancies (which since 1 May 2026 means most private tenancies), regulated tenancies and domestic agricultural tenancies, where the home is legally required to have an EPC.

The £3,500 spending cap

A landlord with an F or G home must make the improvements recommended on the EPC to reach E, but doesn’t currently have to spend more than £3,500 including VAT. If the home is still below E after that, or the cheapest measure on its own would cost more, they can register an exemption instead.

Exemptions and the PRS Exemptions Register

An exemption only counts once it is registered, with evidence, on the PRS Exemptions Register. The main ones:

High cost

Even the cheapest recommended improvement would cost more than £3,500 including VAT. Five years.

All relevant improvements made

Everything that can be done within the £3,500 cap has been done, and the home is still below E. Five years.

Wall insulation

Written expert advice says the recommended wall insulation would harm the building. Five years.

Consent refused

Someone whose consent is needed, such as the tenant or the planning authority, refused it to the work. Five years, or until the tenancy ends where it was the tenant who refused.

Devaluation

A RICS surveyor reports that the work would cut the property’s market value by more than 5%. Five years.

New landlord

Someone who has just become a landlord in certain circumstances, such as buying a home with a tenant in it. Six months.

When an exemption ends, the landlord has to try again to reach E before registering another. Exemptions don’t pass to a new owner when a home is sold.

Anyone can search the register by postcode to see whether a home has an exemption, and whether a penalty has been published against it. If an F or G home isn’t there, it shouldn’t be let.

Who enforces MEES, and the fines

The council enforces the standard, and can act on a breach in the 18 months before it serves a penalty notice. The maximum penalties, as councils’ published policies set them out:

• Up to £2,000 for letting a substandard home for less than three months.
• Up to £4,000 for three months or more.
• Up to £1,000 for false or misleading information on the exemptions register.
• Up to £2,000 for not complying with a compliance notice.
• No more than £5,000 in total per property, plus publication of the breach on the register for at least 12 months.

Example: Mid Sussex District Council’s statement of principles.

EPC C by 2030: what is planned, and what isn’t law yet

In January 2026 the government published its response on raising the standard. It confirmed that all private tenancies will have to meet a standard equivalent to band C by 1 October 2030. The earlier idea of an earlier date for new tenancies was dropped. As announced:

• The main test will be a fabric performance rating on new-style EPCs, plus either a heating system or a smart readiness rating, at the landlord’s choice.
• A home rated C or above on its current energy efficiency rating, on an EPC lodged before 1 October 2029, will count as compliant until that certificate expires or is replaced.
• The cap rises to £10,000 per property, and money spent on improvements from 1 October 2025 counts towards it. For a home worth under £100,000, the cap is 10% of its value.
• The high cost, property value adjustment and negative impacts exemptions (the last replacing the wall insulation and devaluation exemptions) will last 10 years; most others five.
• The maximum fine rises to £30,000 per property per breach.

None of this is in force. The government said it needs an Act of Parliament for the higher fines, then new regulations, which it aims to bring into force in 2027. As at 25 October 2026 we have found no further official announcement changing the date or the cap. Until the new rules are made, band E and the £3,500 cap are the law.

New-style EPCs: delayed to 2027

The government planned to bring in reformed EPCs, based on its new Home Energy Model and showing several ratings instead of one, from October 2026. On 9 March 2026 it moved the launch to the second half of 2027. Today’s A to G certificates remain valid, and a landlord doesn’t need a new one because of the reform.

What a renter can expect, and do

• Before you view: ask for the EPC, or look it up on the EPC checker. A low rating usually means higher heating bills.
• If the home is F or G: ask whether an exemption is registered and check the register yourself. If there isn’t one, ask for the work to be done before you sign, or walk away.
• Already living there: ask the landlord in writing what they will do and by when, keep the reply, then report it to the council if nothing happens.
• No EPC at all: ask for the certificate number. If there isn’t one, report it to Trading Standards at the council.

Improving the rating is the landlord’s job. Insulation, heating and windows are alterations that usually need their consent, so ask rather than doing it yourself. The EPC is one of several documents you should get before moving in: what a landlord must give you now.

Where this comes from

On legislation.gov.uk: regulation 6 of the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 and the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015. On GOV.UK: the domestic minimum energy efficiency standard landlord guidance, registering an exemption, viewing exemptions, the guide to EPCs for the marketing, sale and let of dwellings, improving the energy performance of privately rented homes: government response and reforms to the energy performance of buildings regime. Council guidance: Stratford-on-Avon on exemptions and Mid Sussex on penalties.

This guide covers common private tenancies in England and is general information, not legal advice. Different rules apply in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to lodgers, social housing and some specialist accommodation. RenterCheck is independent and not connected with the government.