Any domestic property that is being sold or let to a new tenant must have an Energy Performance Certificate or EPC. These are a rating scheme to summarise the energy efficiency of buildings. The building is given a rating between A (Very efficient) – G (Inefficient). The EPC will also include tips on the most cost effective ways to improve the property’s energy rating. (From this Wikipedia article.)
The requirement to have an EPC when selling a house was phased in from 2007 (larger houses) to 2010. The only houses without an EPC should be those that have been in the same hands since before the legislation came in.
All tenancies now need to have an EPC. Currently this must have a minimum rating of E, but the Government is proposing that rental properties meet a compulsory EPC rating of C on new tenancies by December 2025, and on all rented properties by December 2028. Given that most student lets run by the academic year, this requirement would come in from 2026/27. There are currently at least 1,000 properties that will need upgrading over the next four years.
The EPC rating for an individual property can be found by filling in the form at https://www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities makes Energy Performance of Buildings Data available as spreadsheets to people who have an account with them. We have opened an account and downloaded the data for County Durham. Combining this with data from the Ordnance Survey enables us to publish this table showing the number and percentage of each EPC rating in the City of Durham Parish and for comparison the figures for the DH1 postcode district:
| EPC rating | Parish | DH1 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 0 | 0.0% | 17 | 0.1% |
| B | 883 | 9.6% | 1,720 | 7.5% |
| C | 1,511 | 16.5% | 4,062 | 17.8% |
| D | 1,721 | 18.8% | 5,702 | 24.9% |
| E | 677 | 7.4% | 1,672 | 7.3% |
| F | 130 | 1.4% | 263 | 1.1% |
| G | 24 | 0.3% | 50 | 0.2% |
| Unrated | 4,226 | 46.1% | 9,396 | 41.1% |
(Percentages may not total due to rounding)
Our use of this data is subject to permissions and licences as set out in the Copyright and Database Right Information page.
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