Do You Need an EPC To Sell a House?
Estimated reading time 6 minutes
Selling a house is often a complex process. The long waits, the financial commitments, the risk of it falling through and more can be draining. This is before you’ve factored in the legal aspects of a house sale, too. Having an EPC is one such concern and to sell a house, you’ll need an EPC in place before you can get moving. In fact, it’s a legal requirement to have an EPC when you sell a house.
What is an EPC?
Before we go any further, it’s best to establish what an EPC is. An EPC, or Energy Performance Certificate, certifies the efficiency of your home. Graded from A-G, with A being the most efficient a house can be and G being the least, it’s a vital asset when buying or selling a home.
With information relating to estimated energy costs, how a home can be made more energy-efficient and how much it may cost to improve energy efficiency, an EPC will be important to those considering an offer.
An EPC lasts for 10 years from its date of issue, but you can always get a new one if you’ve made changes to the home that would improve its rating.
Is it important to have an EPC when selling a house?
Absolutely – not only do you have the legal aspect of needing one to sell your home, but it also acts as a marketing tool for the property. If people can see your home is energy efficient or it won’t cost a lot of money to upgrade, they might be more forthcoming with an offer.
On the other hand, a low rating or huge costs could see buyers looking elsewhere for a greener property within the same price range.
When should I get an EPC if I am selling my house?
Ideally, you want it as early as possible. That way, it’s one less thing to worry about. However, you will need it before you even list your house for sale. Then, when the viewings do come in, you’ll have it to hand for those interested in buying your home.
In some cases, you might actually get away without an EPC. Certain properties are exempt, and if you happen to own one, you can tick EPC off your list of things to organise. Although, the likelihood of you selling one of these homes is quite remote.
What properties are exempt from needing an EPC?
Properties that won’t require an EPC are limited in number, but it could be that the property you sell fulfils these criteria:
- Buildings intended to be used for less than 2 years
- Buildings that are to be demolished
- Holiday property or residential property that is used for less than 4 months a year
- Places of worship
- Industrial sites
- Workshops
- Stand-alone buildings with less than 50 m² of useful floor space
How do you get an EPC when selling your house?
If your current EPC has expired or you’ve made changes that could see you gain a new rating, you should get a new EPC to reflect the current rating. You can do this by following the below steps:
- Simply head to the gov.uk website to find an EPC assessor
- When you find one in your area, contact them to arrange a visit
- Allow them to access your home to complete the inspection
- Await the EPC to be handed to you
An EPC will cost you anything from £60-£120, but much depends on the size of the property and where it is. This is money well spent if it speeds up your house sale.
Do I have to declare my EPC rating when selling my house?
Wherever your property is listed (such as in an estate agent's windows, newspaper ads or online), the EPC indicator must be displayed. This is the colour-coded chart that shows the rating for your home, which you may recognise from appliances you own.
Aside from this, should there be any literature created by your estate agent for the sale of the home that describes the building, you’ll need to have the EPC indicator displayed too.
Can I still sell my house if I have a low EPC rating?
Of course – whilst it is more desirable to have an A-C rating, not many homes do. Lots of homes in the UK are quite old and do not have many of the efficiency features more modern buildings offer. To give you an indication, there are currently 8 million homes in the UK classed as “older homes.” This means they were built before 1944, and according to a report issued last year, the UK housing stock is among the oldest in Europe.
EPC-improvement.co.uk reports that the median EPC rating in the UK is D.
The only issue, is that many buyers may see this low grading as an opportunity to offer under your asking price. Furthermore, if you are selling to a landlord, they might be reluctant to buy. New laws state that landlords must only let out properties with a C rating or better by 2030. Whilst this is still a few years away, if the costs of the upgrades are significant, they might wish to invest elsewhere.
Could a good EPC rating increase my house value?
Yes! However, it depends on what rating you start at. Upgrading from an E to a C, for example, will see a better increase in value than if you were moving from a C to a B. Figures have previously shown that a C rating can see a premium of 3% on D-graded homes and a huge 19.6% on those rated F or G.
As a result, if your home is currently a D or lower, you should look at what costs are involved to bring it up a level or two. If those costs are lower than the expected increase in market value, then you might want to delay your sales and drive the value up.
Should you choose not to make the upgrades, the potential buyers might decide to do them. But only once they have negotiated a discount on the house price.
If your home isn’t selling, perhaps due to a bad EPC rating or it’s simply a difficult time to sell, speak to us. Our team at Bettermove guarantees you can sell your house fast, without worrying about EPCs, chain breaks and more. With two routes to sale, we ensure all homeowners can be successful in the sale. We’ll either buy your house ourselves or present it to a team of cash house buyers who can wrap up a sale rapidly.
