Listed Buildings Guidance for EPC.

The subject of whether listed buildings do or do not require an Energy Performance Certificate is a common area of confusion and misunderstanding.

Unlike Scotland, where all buildings require an EPC, irrespective of listing, the official guidance elsewhere has been particularly difficult to make a black-and-white decision on the subject. Unfortunately, it is not necessarily down to the Schemes or Energy Assessors to decide whether, for sale or rental/MEES purposes, an EPC is a requirement.

EPB Regulations state that an EPC is not required for “buildings officially protected as part of a designated environment or because of their special architectural or historical merit, in so far as compliance with certain minimum energy performance requirements would unacceptably alter their character or appearance.”

It is the final clause of the Regulation, as underlined above, where the issues arise.

The only way to determine whether the compliance to energy performance requirements would unacceptably alter the dwelling’s character or appearance is to lodge a valid EPC, take that to the planning officers and see whether those recommendations would have an impact. If they would, the EPC would not need to be provided for sale/rental purposes, however, if the recommendations have no impact, the EPC must be used in line with the Regulations.

The start point, it would seem, would be the lodgement of a valid EPC. The decision, ultimately, for whether a listed property shall have an EPC should be made by the property owner. If an Energy Assessor is contracted to complete an EPC, it should be done, but as to whether it is required is a decision to be made by the property owner/agent.

As meeting the MEES requirements also hinges on whether an EPC is required, the above logic would also be used.

In order to help clients & estate agents, we have put together a simple flow diagram which follows the commonly agreed logic for dealing with listed buildings and how the EPCs created should be used.

What to do next?

As stated, it is not down to Accreditation Schemes or Energy Assessors to determine whether a listed building is exempt from needing to use an EPC for sale/rental purposes; this can only been done by the client/agent, however, the initial starting point should always be the lodgement of a valid EPC.