An EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) must be provided to all prospective tenants and buyers of residential properties in Scotland. Holiday Let Landlords, have in the past, believed they fell outside of these requirements, but it is now within the legislation to have an EPC for Individual holiday homes, in Scotland, which are rented out in their entirety as specific properties to groups of people.
An EPC lasts for 10 years, and if you bought your property within the last 10 years you will have one as it is a requirement when selling. If you don’t know if you have one or not, or have lost it, then the first step is to check the register: (NB EPCs prepared prior to 2013 may not be on the register)
https://www.scottishepcregister.org.uk/CustomerFacingPortal/TermsAndConditions
Once you have your EPC, you need to work out the best way to make this information ‘available to prospective tenants’ within your property. You should add the certificate to your listing to ensure that prospective guests have access to the information. Some landlords also provide the EPC in their welcome booklets, or leave them laminated and available in the property.
You may have heard about the requirements coming in for a landlord to raise their EPC rating, these are:
EPC of E at change of tenancy from 1 April 2020
All rental properties must have an EPC rating of E by 31 March 2022
EPC of D at change of tenancy from 1 April 2022
All rental properties must have an EPC rating of D by 31 March 2025
These requirements are for long term landlords only and at this stage short let landlords do not have the same responsibilities to increase their ratings.
More information and clarity around these points can be found here:
At Landlords Little Helper we have teamed up with a local EPC surveyor who can carry out an EPC for you for £60. We can also arrange consultancy to help you improve your rating, and to aid your decisions during a refurbishment to help you maintain or increase your rating.
