Energy performance certificates (EPC) and the minimum E rating for rented homes
Most homes you let in England need a valid energy performance certificate (EPC); the government's guide lists a few exceptions, such as some listed buildings, holiday lets and very small detached buildings. Since 1 April 2020 a home covered by the minimum standard can't be let if it is rated below E, unless an exemption is registered. This guide covers the certificate, the minimum rating, the exemptions and the fines, and keeps the proposed higher standard apart, because it isn't law yet.
When you need an EPC
If there's no valid EPC, commission one before the home goes on the market. Show it free to prospective tenants at the earliest opportunity, and no later than when you first give them written details or they view the home. The tenant who takes it must be given a copy free of charge, and any advert in the commercial media must state the rating where it's available, for example C.
An EPC lasts 10 years, or until a newer one is registered for the same home, and can be reused for every let in that time. You can look up a home's certificate on GOV.UK by postcode. Letting a single room needs no EPC, as a room isn't a building. The whole building needs one if the whole building is sold or let; the guidance doesn't say whether letting every room of a house separately counts.
Spotted a mistake? Tell us
The minimum E rating
The minimum energy efficiency standard (MEES) covers a home let on an assured, regulated or domestic agricultural tenancy that is legally required to have an EPC. A home marketed for sale or let, or modified, in the past 10 years will probably need one. If it is rated F or G, improve it to E or register an exemption before a new tenancy, or straight away if it is let now. An empty home you don't plan to let needs no improvement to its rating until you decide to let it again.
Spotted a mistake? Tell us
How much you have to spend
You're not currently required to spend more than £3,500, including VAT, and spending since 1 October 2017 counts towards it. If third-party funding covers the whole cost of reaching E, the cap doesn't apply. If the home can't reach E for £3,500, make every improvement you can up to the cap, then register an 'all improvements made' exemption. Pick from the measures your EPC recommends: work that isn't on that list and still leaves the home below E won't support the exemption.
Spotted a mistake? Tell us
The exemptions
An exemption applies from the day you register it on the private rented sector (PRS) Exemptions Register, which the public can search. When one expires, try again to reach E, and register a further exemption if you still can't.
| Exemption | When it applies | Lasts |
|---|---|---|
| All relevant improvements made | Still below E after improvements up to the £3,500 cap, or none can be made | 5 years |
| High cost | Even the cheapest recommended measure would cost more than £3,500 including VAT | 5 years |
| Wall insulation | The only measures are wall insulation, and expert advice says they would harm the building | 5 years |
| Third-party consent | Consent you need (a tenant, superior landlord, mortgage lender, freeholder or planning) can't be obtained despite your best efforts | 5 years, or to the end of the tenancy where the tenant refused |
| Property devaluation | An independent RICS-registered surveyor says the measures would cut its value by more than 5% | 5 years |
| Recently became the landlord | You became the landlord in certain circumstances (the full guidance lists them) | 6 months |
Spotted a mistake? Tell us
What it costs to miss
Councils enforce the minimum standard: letting below E without an exemption can cost up to £2,000 if it has gone on for under three months, or up to £4,000 for three months or more. False or misleading information on the Exemptions Register can cost up to £1,000, and ignoring a compliance notice up to £2,000; each can also mean the breach being published, and the total for one property is capped at £5,000. A council can serve a compliance notice up to 12 months after a suspected breach, and a penalty up to 18 months after it. You can ask the council to review a penalty, then, if it upholds the penalty, appeal to the First-tier Tribunal on the grounds the guidance lists.
Spotted a mistake? Tell us
The certificate's own penalties
The certificate itself is enforced by trading standards: not making a valid EPC available is a £200 penalty charge for a home, and leaving the rating out of an advert can mean £200 per advertisement.
Spotted a mistake? Tell us
A higher standard by 2030: proposed, not law yet
In its January 2026 response the government said it plans that private landlords of all tenancies will have to meet a higher standard by 1 October 2030, which it describes as equivalent to EPC C. It would be measured on new EPC scores (a fabric standard, then either a heating-system or a smart-readiness standard), not only on today's A to G band.
It isn't law yet: the changes need Parliament's approval, the government will seek new powers by Act of Parliament, and it aims for the regulations to come into force in 2027. Under the plan, landlords would have to spend up to £10,000 a property, counting relevant work installed since 1 October 2025.
A home that scores C or higher on today's Energy Efficiency Rating on an EPC before 1 October 2029 would count as meeting it until that EPC expires or is replaced; after that, a new EPC with the new scores would be needed. The plan expects a maximum fine of £30,000 per property per breach, and until it applies, E remains the minimum.
The government's landlord guidance on the minimum standard, last updated in May 2026, still says it is exploring the design and will say more in due course.
What Datestone does for you
Datestone reads the government's EPC register when you add a home and again every morning, so a renewal is picked up; where no register entry matches the address, the checklist asks you for the date. The checklist shows when the certificate runs out and links the official guidance, and the plan for a higher standard is listed on What's coming, marked not law yet.