All new Tenancies which will begin after October the 1st 2008 require an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) prior to the Tenancy start date.  Once an EPC is prepared for a rental property it will be valid for 10 years but it may be a good idea to have it re-issued should major works be done to the property.

 EPC's came about as a result of a European Union Directive to monitor the energy efficiency of buildings and reduce CO2 levels. In order to produce an EPC, an accredited Domestic Energy Assessor will visit the property to examine key areas such as the boiler, loft insulation and windows. This information is then entered into a specialist program which calculates the energy efficiency and environmental impact (i.e CO2 emissions) and is displayed in graphs similar to those shown below.

 The EPC will also predict the energy bills for the property per annum and give suggestions for ways to improve the energy efficiency of the property.