In England, as the law stands in October 2026, a landlord must make a valid EPC available free to every prospective tenant by the first written information or the viewing, give it to the tenant who signs, and let only at band E or above unless an exemption is registered. Ten-year validity. No EPC: £200; below E: up to £5,000.
By Stevie Hayes · Updated 26 October 2026 · Figures checked against legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK on 26 October 2026 · How we verify · Report a problem with this page · Statutory penalties are maximums; councils and courts decide the amount.
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| Fact | Position | Since / status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who gets the EPC | Every prospective tenant, free, at the earliest opportunity and no later than the first written information or the viewing; the tenant who signs is given it | SI 2012/3118 reg 6 | SI 2012/3118, reg 6 (EPC on sale and rent) |
| No valid EPC | Commission one before marketing; all reasonable efforts to obtain it within 7 days of marketing, and in any case within the 21 days after that | reg 7 | SI 2012/3118, reg 7 (EPC on marketing) |
| Validity | Ten years from entry on the register, unless a newer certificate is lodged | reg 9(2) | SI 2012/3118, reg 9 (content and ten-year validity) |
| Minimum rating | Band E to grant, renew or continue a tenancy, unless an exemption is registered | 1 April 2020 for existing tenancies | SI 2015/962, reg 23 (prohibition on letting sub-standard property) |
| Exemptions | Registered on the PRS Exemptions Register first; most last five years, six months for a landlord who has recently become the landlord in listed circumstances | SI 2015/962 regs 25, 31–33, 36 | SI 2015/962, reg 36 (PRS Exemptions Register) |
| Penalty: no EPC | Fixed charge of £200 for a dwelling, per breach | SI 2012/3118 reg 38 | SI 2012/3118, reg 38 (penalty amount: £200 for a dwelling) |
| Penalty: below band E | Up to £2,000 (under three months) or £4,000 (three months or more), total no more than £5,000, and/or publication of the breach | SI 2015/962 reg 40 | SI 2015/962, reg 40 (penalties for domestic property) |
| Band C | A policy decision for 1 October 2030 on new EPC metrics; regulations not yet made, so not yet in force | GOV.UK response, 21 January 2026 | GOV.UK: Improving the energy performance of privately rented homes: consultation and government response (21 January 2026) |
Yes. Every home let as a whole in England needs a valid Energy Performance Certificate, or one commissioned, before it is marketed; the certificate must be made available free of charge to every prospective tenant no later than the first written information or the viewing, and the tenant who takes the property must be given it. The only exceptions are a short statutory list, mainly protected buildings and homes used for part of the year.
Under regulation 6 of the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 the "relevant person", which for a letting is the prospective landlord (regulation 2), "shall make available free of charge a valid energy performance certificate to any prospective buyer or tenant" "at the earliest opportunity" and "in any event no later than" the earlier of the time the landlord "first makes available any information in writing about the building to the person" and "the time at which the person views the building". Regulation 6(5) then requires the landlord to "ensure that a valid energy performance certificate has been given free of charge to the person who ultimately becomes the buyer or tenant".
If there is no valid certificate when the property is to be let, regulation 7 applies: "Before the building is put on the market, the relevant person must secure that an energy performance certificate is commissioned", and the landlord and any agent "must use all reasonable efforts to secure that a valid energy performance certificate is obtained for the building before the end of a period of 7 days starting with the day on which the building was first put on the market", with a further 21 days where that proves impossible despite all reasonable efforts (regulation 7(5)).
The exceptions are in regulation 5: among them, buildings "officially protected" as part of a designated environment or for their architectural or historical merit "in so far as compliance with certain minimum energy performance requirements would unacceptably alter their character or appearance", places of worship, temporary buildings of two years or less, residential buildings used, or intended to be used, "for less than four months of the year", and stand-alone buildings under 50 square metres. A listed building is therefore not automatically exempt: the test is whether meeting the standard would unacceptably alter it. Regulation 8 adds a dwelling that is "suitable for demolition" with the consents in place.
The EPC is one of several documents a letting needs; what certificates landlords need lists them all with their cadences, and the landlord compliance checklist puts them in order. This page describes the law in England; it is not advice on a particular property or tenancy.
An EPC lasts ten years from the day it is entered on the register, and the register is GOV.UK's free Find an energy certificate service, searched by postcode. A certificate obtained for a sale or an earlier tenancy still counts until its ten years run out, unless a newer one has been lodged for the property since.
Regulation 9(2) says a certificate "is only valid for the purposes of this Part if" "it was entered on the register no more than 10 years before the date on which it is made available" and "no other energy performance certificate for the building has since been entered on the register". So a newer certificate replaces the old one on the day it is lodged, and an EPC obtained for a sale or an earlier tenancy still counts until its ten years run out.
The register is GOV.UK's Find an energy certificate service, which covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Search by postcode, by street and town, or by certificate number; the entry shows the rating, the date it expires and the recommendation report that regulation 9(1)(d) requires the assessor to include unless there is no reasonable potential for improvement. A landlord who cannot find the property there has no valid certificate to rely on and needs to commission one under regulation 7 before marketing.
Three things to check on the entry before a new tenancy: the expiry date falls after the tenancy will begin; the band is E or above (or an exemption is registered, below); and the address matches the unit being let.
Band E or above. Since 1 April 2018 a landlord in England cannot grant or renew a tenancy of a home rated F or G, and since 1 April 2020 cannot continue to let one, unless an exemption is registered on the PRS Exemptions Register. Band E is the only binding minimum today; the band C standard is a proposal whose regulations have not been made. The band E rule applies to homes let on an assured, regulated or domestic agricultural tenancy that are legally required to have an EPC (regulation 19, and GOV.UK's landlord guidance).
The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015, usually called MEES, set the floor. Regulation 23(1): "A landlord of a sub-standard domestic PR property must not let the property unless regulation 25, or one or more of the exemptions in Chapter 4, applies." Regulation 22 defines "sub-standard" as a property whose valid EPC "expresses the energy performance indicator of the property as being below the minimum level of energy efficiency", and the minimum level as "an energy performance indicator of band E". An EPC is "valid" for these Regulations on the same ten-year test as above.
"Let the property" is defined widely in regulation 23(2): "on or after 1st April 2018, grant a new tenancy", including "an extension or renewal of an existing tenancy", and "on [or] after 1st April 2020, continue to let the property". Since 1 April 2020, then, an F or G rated home cannot be let at all under regulation 23(2), whether by a new tenancy (limb (a)) or by continuing an existing one (limb (b)), unless an exemption is registered. GOV.UK's landlord guidance (updated 5 May 2026) puts it plainly: a landlord currently letting an F or G property who has not already acted "must improve the property's rating to E immediately, or register an exemption".
A breach does not undo the tenancy. Regulation 26: letting in breach of regulation 23 "does not affect the validity or enforceability of any provision of the tenancy". The rent remains due and the tenancy stands; the consequence is the penalty described below.
GOV.UK's guidance lists six exemptions that let a landlord keep letting a home rated F or G: all relevant improvements made or none possible, an improvement above the cost cap, wall insulation advised against in writing, consent refused, devaluation of more than 5%, and six months for a landlord who has recently become the landlord in certain listed circumstances, such as buying a property already let. Every one must be registered on the PRS Exemptions Register before it is relied on, and most last five years.
Regulation 36(2): a landlord of a sub-standard property who "wishes to rely on" an exemption "must register the information set out in the Schedule on the PRS Exemptions Register", and the register publishes the address, the exemption relied on, a copy of the EPC and the date of registration (regulation 36(1)(c)). GOV.UK's guidance links the register at Register or manage an exemption. An unregistered exemption cannot be relied on (regulations 31(2), 32(3), 33(5) and 36(2)).
| Exemption | When it applies | How long | Provision |
|---|---|---|---|
| All relevant improvements made, or none can be made | The landlord "has made all the relevant energy efficiency improvements for the property" or "there are no relevant energy efficiency improvements that can be made" | "five years starting with the date on which the landlord registers" | reg 25 |
| High cost | An improvement counts as "relevant" only where its cost including VAT can be met from funding at no cost to the landlord, or "is not more than the cost cap" set in regulation 24(4); above it, the improvement is not required | Five years from registration (it is registered as a reg 25(1)(b) exemption: no relevant improvement can be made within the cap) | regs 24(3), (4), 25 |
| Wall insulation | Cavity, external or internal wall insulation is not a relevant improvement where a written opinion from a relevant person or an independent installer advises it "is not an appropriate improvement, due to its potential negative impact on the fabric or structure" | Five years (GOV.UK guidance) | reg 24(2) |
| Consent | Within the preceding five years the landlord has been unable to reach band E because of "the tenant refusing consent" or, "despite reasonable efforts", a third party's consent "refused" or "granted subject to a condition with which the landlord cannot reasonably comply" | Up to five years; a tenant-refusal exemption ends "once that tenant's tenancy has come to an end" (reg 31(3)) | reg 31(1A) |
| Devaluation | An independent surveyor's report "states that making that relevant energy efficiency improvement would result in a reduction of more than 5% in the market value of the property, or of the building of which it forms part" | Five years | reg 32 |
| Recently became the landlord | Becoming the landlord in listed circumstances (reg 33(2)), such as a lease granted under a contractual obligation or a lease ordered by the court; or buying a property already let on an existing tenancy, which covers continuing that tenancy only, not granting a new one (reg 33(3), (4)) | "six months after" becoming the landlord (from the court order, if later) | reg 33(1)–(4) |
The cost cap is £3,500 including VAT, less the cost of energy efficiency improvements already made to the property since 1 October 2017 and not recorded on the PRS Exemptions Register: what the landlord spent on them up to 31 March 2019, and their total cost from 1 April 2019 (regulation 24(4), (5)). Spending to that figure without reaching band E, with the evidence registered, is what the "all relevant improvements" exemption is for. The government's January 2026 response sets out a decision to raise the cap to £10,000 under the proposed band C standard; those regulations have not been made, and the current cap stands until they are.
Not making an EPC available, or not commissioning one, carries a fixed penalty charge of £200 for a dwelling. Letting a home rated F or G without a registered exemption carries a council penalty of up to £2,000 for a breach under three months or up to £4,000 for longer, capped at £5,000 in total for one breach, and/or publication of the breach on the PRS Exemptions Register.
Two regimes, two enforcers. For failing to make an EPC available or to commission one, regulation 38 of the 2012 Regulations fixes the penalty charge for a dwelling at "£200" for a breach of regulation 6(2), 6(5), 7(2) to 7(5). It is a fixed charge, not a maximum, and it is enforced by the local weights and measures authority, trading standards (regulation 34), which "may" give a penalty charge notice within "six months beginning with the day (or in the case of a continuing breach the last day) on which the breach of duty was committed" (regulation 36(2)).
For letting below band E, the local authority enforces (regulation 34: it "must enforce compliance"). Under regulation 38 it "may" serve a penalty notice where it is satisfied the landlord "is, or has been at any time in the 18 months preceding the date of service of the penalty notice, in breach", imposing a financial penalty, a publication penalty, or both. Regulation 40 sets the amounts for a domestic property:
The publication penalty (regulation 39) puts such of the details of the breach, the address, the amount and, where the landlord is not an individual, the landlord's name as the authority decides on the PRS Exemptions Register "for a minimum period of 12 months". A landlord may request a review within the period stated in the notice, and the authority must withdraw it if it "is satisfied that L took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid committing the breach" (regulation 42). The EPC penalties are modest beside the electrical ones: the EICR guide explains the £40,000 cap that applies there.
Not yet, and not under any regulations that have been made. The government's January 2026 response is a policy decision to require the equivalent of band C on new EPC metrics from a single compliance date of 1 October 2030, with regulations it aims to bring into force in 2027; until those regulations are made, band E remains the only binding minimum and no penalty attaches to a D-rated home.
The government's response to its consultation on improving the energy performance of privately rented homes, published on GOV.UK on 21 January 2026, is a policy decision to raise the standard to the equivalent of band C on new EPC metrics; the amending regulations have not been made, so band C is not yet law. GOV.UK says the response introduces "a single compliance date of 1 October 2030 for the new standard", that "Government will proceed with introducing new powers by Act of Parliament to implement the decisions" and "will seek to lay a statutory instrument with the aim of it coming into force in 2027", and that it sets out a decision on "raising the cost-cap to £10,000 with a 10-year validity period for exemptions". It also says the new standard will recognise homes "graded C or above against the Energy Efficiency Rating (EER) on EPCs before 1 October 2029" until that EPC expires.
The "Recent and coming changes" table below tracks this from the same source. Until the regulations are made, nothing in the band C proposal changes what a landlord must do at a letting, and no penalty attaches to a D-rated home. What a landlord can usefully do now is read the recommendation report on the current EPC. Damp and mould standards are moving on a separate track: see Awaab's Law for private landlords, which is likewise not yet in force for the private rented sector.
Government changes that bear on this duty. Where the status says in force the rule already applies; everything else is not yet law for private landlords. Dates are quoted as the government has published them, checked on 15 October 2026.
| Change | Status today | Published timing | Sensible preparation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum energy efficiency standard for private rented homes raised from EPC band E to the equivalent of band C, measured against new EPC metrics, with a £10,000 per-property cost cap | policy decision, regulations not yet made | Government response published January 2026 alongside the Warm Homes Plan: a single compliance date of 1 October 2030 for all tenancies; properties without an EER C before 1 October 2029 must meet the new-metric standard. The amending regulations have not been made, so band E remains the only binding minimum. | If a property is below band C, read its EPC recommendations now; spending on recommended measures from 1 October 2025 is stated to count towards the cost cap. Source |
| A Decent Homes Standard applied to the private rented sector for the first time, enforced by councils | consultation closed, response awaited | Consulted 2 July to 12 September 2025 with a proposed start in 2035 or 2037; the roadmap lists implementation as "TBC, subject to consultation" | Nothing is required yet; the government's stated expectation is that landlords start works earlier where feasible. Source |
Yes, in England, unless a narrow regulation 5 exception applies (a protected building where compliance would unacceptably alter it, or a home used under four months a year). A valid EPC must be made available free to every prospective tenant no later than the first written information or the viewing, and given to the tenant who takes the property (SI 2012/3118 regulation 6).
Ten years from the date it is entered on the register, unless a newer certificate for the property is lodged first (SI 2012/3118 regulation 9(2)). The expiry date is shown on the register entry, and the same certificate serves every tenancy within those ten years.
Use GOV.UK's Find an energy certificate service. Search by postcode, by street and town, or by certificate number; the entry shows the rating, the expiry date and the recommendation report. It covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Band E. Under SI 2015/962 regulation 23 a landlord of a sub-standard domestic property, meaning one rated F or G, must not let it, and since 1 April 2020 that includes continuing an existing tenancy, unless an exemption is registered on the PRS Exemptions Register.
Only with a registered exemption: all relevant improvements made or none possible, an improvement above the cost cap, wall insulation advised against in writing, consent refused, more than 5% devaluation on a surveyor's report, or six months for a landlord who recently became the landlord in listed circumstances, such as buying a property already let. Register first; most last five years (SI 2015/962 regulations 24, 25, 31–33, 36).
A fixed £200 for a dwelling for each breach of the duty to make the EPC available or to commission one (SI 2012/3118 regulation 38). Letting below band E is separate: up to £2,000 if the breach is under three months, up to £4,000 if longer, no more than £5,000 in total, and/or publication on the PRS Exemptions Register (SI 2015/962 regulation 40).
No. Regulation 26 of SI 2015/962 says a breach of the band E rule does not affect the validity or enforceability of any provision of the tenancy. The rent remains due; the consequence is the penalty.
Not yet, and not under any regulations that have been made. The government's January 2026 response is a policy decision to require the equivalent of band C on new EPC metrics with a single compliance date of 1 October 2030, with regulations it aims to bring into force in 2027. Until those regulations are made, band E remains the only binding minimum.
In 2026 the rules in England are unchanged: a valid EPC free to every prospective tenant and given to the tenant who signs (SI 2012/3118 regulation 6), ten-year validity, and band E or above to let unless an exemption is registered (SI 2015/962 regulation 23). Band C is a proposal for 2030 whose regulations have not been made.
The regulations set no fee; an accredited energy assessor charges a market rate, and the certificate must be provided to prospective tenants free of charge (regulation 6(2)). The ten-year validity means the cost is spread across several tenancies.
No. The same certificate serves every tenancy within its ten years, provided no newer certificate has been lodged (SI 2012/3118 regulation 9(2)). What is required at each letting is to make it available to prospective tenants and give it to the one who takes the property.
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