Long Way To Go For Home EPCs

The UK consumer rights group ‘Consumer Focus’ recently produced a revealing report into the use of the home Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). Their survey asked just over 2,000 adults how they had used information from EPCs and whether they found them easy to understand. The results demonstrated that estate agents are not always playing their part, particularly in the rental sector. Despite energy efficient homes saving hundreds of pounds on bills every year, there seems to be a long way to before the EPC influences the choice of new home.

Just 14% of buyers considered energy efficiency to be important, with 18% of respondents saying EPCs had influenced their decisions. Only 17% said they acted on the recommendations within their EPC. However EPCs don’t seem to be a factor during negotiations about prices for selling or renting. On the whole, the EPC had little relevance to the decision whether to buy (or rent) any particular property. Estate agents were heavily criticised for not providing EPCs alongside other marketing materials. It was even recommended that Trading Standards get involved to make them comply.

48% of respondents didn’t even see a EPC before signing their contract, and a further 8% weren’t sure if they had seen it before committing. 79% of homebuyers received information, whereas only just under a third had within the private rental and social housing sectors.

When it comes to the impact of energy performance, there were two clear things that people wanted to see happen. Many thought that seeing the current energy bill for the property would be useful, accompanied by information on how they could then save energy. 76% of those who did see an EPC said it was well laid out and easy to understand.