EPCs for flats and leasehold homes

Each flat has its own certificate

There is normally no single EPC that covers a whole block of flats. Each dwelling is a separate unit for the purposes of the rules, so a certificate is required when an individual flat is built, sold or let, and it describes that flat alone. If you are buying, the certificate to look at is the one lodged against the specific flat, not one for a neighbouring unit that happens to look similar.

An existing flat is assessed by an accredited Domestic Energy Assessor using RdSAP, the reduced-data method, while a new-build flat is rated using the full SAP methodology from its design and construction information. Either way the finished certificate is lodged on the national EPC register, and a domestic EPC remains valid for ten years, or until a newer one is produced for the same dwelling. Blocks are often assessed piecemeal over time, so certificates within one building can be of very different ages and reflect different points in its history. Our guide to reading an EPC explains what each part of the certificate is telling you.

Communal heating and shared services

Many purpose-built blocks are served by community or district heating, where a central plant room supplies heat and hot water to every flat. The assessor records this as the main heating system, along with the fuel it uses and the way heat is delivered and controlled inside the flat. The efficiency of that shared system, and the losses in the pipework that distributes it, feed into the calculation even though no individual resident owns or operates the plant.

That has a practical consequence: a large part of a flat’s rating can be decided by equipment the occupier cannot touch. If the block’s plant is replaced or upgraded, the change will only show on your certificate once a new assessment is carried out. Where the freeholder or managing agent holds documentation for the communal system, it is worth passing it to the assessor so the record reflects what is actually installed rather than a cautious default assumption.

Where the flat sits in the block

Position matters a great deal for a flat, because it determines how much of the dwelling is exposed to the outside. A mid-floor flat surrounded by other heated flats loses heat mainly through its external walls and windows. A top-floor flat has a roof above it, and a ground-floor flat may have a floor over unheated space such as a car park, a passageway or a communal entrance.

The number of exposed walls counts too. A corner flat with two or three external walls has considerably more heat-loss area than a flat of the same size tucked into the middle of the same floor. Because the EPC efficiency rating is based on modelled energy cost rather than on carbon or on your actual bills, those differences in exposed fabric translate into different scores even where the windows, heating and insulation are similar. It is also why a change of heating system can move cost and carbon in different directions.

What leasehold changes about improving a flat

Most flats in England and Wales are held on a lease, which means the building itself – usually the structure, roof, external walls and communal services – belongs to the freeholder, while the leaseholder holds the interior for the term of the lease. That division is why several measures listed on a flat’s EPC are simply not in the leaseholder’s gift: external wall insulation, roof insulation above a top-floor flat, replacement communal plant and, under many leases, the windows.

Work of that kind is normally organised by the freeholder or managing agent and paid for through the service charge. In England and Wales, where the cost to individual leaseholders passes the statutory threshold, a formal major-works consultation process applies before it can be recharged in full, which takes time. Leases also commonly require written consent for alterations inside the flat, so read the lease and speak to the managing agent before committing to anything. Ownership and repair arrangements for flats differ in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and energy performance is a devolved matter, so check the position that applies where the property is.

What a leaseholder can usually still do

Plenty remains within reach. Draught-proofing around doors, letterboxes, loft hatches and floorboards is inexpensive and improves comfort straight away. Better heating controls, such as a room thermostat, a programmer or thermostatic radiator valves, are often permitted where the flat has its own system, and low-energy lighting throughout is recorded by the assessor. Insulating a hot-water cylinder and any accessible pipework is another modest, self-contained job.

Secondary glazing is frequently the practical answer where replacement windows are not allowed, although it still normally needs the freeholder’s consent and, in a listed building or a conservation area, may involve the local authority as well. Listed status does not automatically remove the need for an EPC – whether an exemption applies depends on the circumstances of the individual building, so check the current guidance on gov.uk and take advice before assuming it one way or the other. Our guide to improving your EPC rating sets out how these measures tend to be treated in the assessment.

Practical steps before planning work

Start with the existing certificate: check how old it is and what it actually records, because the quickest gain is sometimes a fresh assessment that captures work already done. A new domestic EPC usually costs somewhere in the region of £60 to £120, though the price varies with the assessor, the location and the property, so it is worth asking for more than one quote – our guide to getting an EPC covers how to arrange one. Read the lease to see which parts of the flat are yours to alter and what consents are required. Then ask the managing agent what is planned for the building – if the communal heating or the roof is already scheduled for attention, that may change what is worth doing individually.

If you let your flat you are the landlord for the purposes of the minimum energy efficiency standard, even though you are a leaseholder yourself. Since 1 April 2020 a property in England and Wales cannot be let below band E unless a valid exemption is registered. A higher minimum standard has been proposed and consulted on, but it is not settled law and no date should be treated as fixed, so check gov.uk for the current position. Our guide for landlords explains where exemptions come in, and our guide to EPCs across the UK covers how Scotland and Northern Ireland differ.

EPC Checker brings public data together to help you research a property. Anything here about costs, service charges or works is general information rather than financial advice, and the site is a research aid, not an assessment, survey or professional, legal or financial advice, so confirm the rules on gov.uk and take qualified advice on your lease.