News

Advice has been issued for meeting the regulatory requirement to secure a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) on marketing a property during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) advice clarifies that:

• The legal requirement to obtain an EPC before selling or letting a property remains in place.
• Where a property is occupied, parties must endeavour to agree that the transaction can be delayed, so that an EPC assessment can proceed when stay-at-home measures to fight coronavirus (COVID-19) are no longer in place.
• If moving is unavoidable and the parties are unable to reach an agreement to delay, and a valid EPC is not available from the register, an assessment may need to be conducted. In these circumstances, government guidelines on staying away from others to minimise the spread of the virus must be followed alongside the guidance for carrying out work in people’s homes.
• EPC assessments can continue in cases where a property is vacant.
• No assessments should take place if any person in the property is showing symptoms, self-isolating or being shielded.

The full guidance is available here:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-energy-performance-certificates