Do you need an EPC to sell a house?

Yes. To sell a home in England or Wales you need an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), and you must order it before you start marketing the home, unless you already have one that's still valid. An EPC lasts 10 years. Buyers must be given it free of charge, and the rating must appear in adverts. Only a small number of homes are exempt.

This guide covers when you need one, what it costs, the exemptions, the penalty for not having one, and how the rating affects buyers. The same rules apply in England and Wales. The rules are different in Scotland.

When do you need an EPC to sell?

The rules come from the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012. When you sell a home:

• Before marketing. GOV.UK says you must order an EPC before you market your property. The seller and the agent must use all reasonable efforts to get it within a week of the home going on the market and, if that's not possible, within the following 21 days.
• Before viewings or written details. You must make a valid EPC available free to anyone interested in buying, at the earliest opportunity and no later than when they first get written details about the home or view it.
• In adverts. The EPC rating must be stated in any advert for the sale in commercial media, such as online listings and newspaper adverts.
• To the buyer. You must make sure the person who ends up buying has been given a valid EPC free of charge.

That last rule means you still need an EPC if you sell without marketing the home, for example privately to a neighbour, at auction or to a cash buyer. Executors selling an inherited house need one too.

How long does an EPC last?

An EPC is valid for 10 years. Under the regulations, it counts as valid if it was entered on the national register no more than 10 years before you make it available to a buyer, and no newer EPC has been registered for the home since.

You can look up any existing EPC for free on GOV.UK's find an energy certificate service, which covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. If there's one from the last 10 years, you can use it, even if you've changed the home since. If your home isn't listed or the EPC has expired, you'll need a new one.

How much does an EPC cost?

There's no fixed price. GOV.UK says the cost depends on the assessor and the size of the property. To get one:

1. Find an accredited domestic energy assessor through GOV.UK's get a new energy certificate service, and check they belong to an accredited scheme.
2. Contact the assessor directly to arrange a visit, so they can survey the home.
3. The certificate is added to the register, where you, your agent and buyers can see it.

Your estate agent may offer to arrange the EPC. It's still worth checking the price against an independent assessor.

What's on an EPC?

An EPC gives the home an energy efficiency rating from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient). It also includes a recommendation report suggesting improvements, unless there's no reasonable scope for any. Buyers use it to judge running costs, and landlords use it to check whether they can let the home.

Which homes don't need an EPC?

Under the regulations and GOV.UK's guidance, you don't need an EPC for:

Exemption	What it means
Listed or officially protected buildings	Only where meeting minimum energy performance requirements would unacceptably alter the building's character or appearance
Homes used for less than four months a year	Including holiday homes used only part of the year
Some holiday accommodation	Let for under four months a year, or under a licence to occupy
Temporary buildings	Used for two years or less
Stand-alone buildings under 50 square metres	Total useful floor area
Some buildings due to be demolished	Check the conditions before relying on this
Places of worship, and some industrial and agricultural buildings	Low-energy workshops, industrial sites and non-residential farm buildings

Being listed isn't an automatic exemption. GOV.UK suggests checking with your council's conservation officer. The government also plans to remove the exemption for heritage buildings as part of wider EPC reforms, so this may change.

A home in poor condition, or one you're selling for renovation, isn't exempt just because of its condition. If you think an exemption applies, ask your solicitor or an assessor before marketing.

What happens if you don't have one?

Trading Standards (the local weights and measures authority) enforce the rules. The penalty for a home is £200 for failing to provide an EPC when you should, or for not showing the rating in adverts. GOV.UK confirms you can be fined if you don't get one when you need one. A missing EPC can also hold up the sale, because the buyer's solicitor will ask for it.

How EPC ratings affect buyers

Owner-occupiers. There's no minimum EPC rating for selling a home, but buyers see the rating in every advert, and it gives them a sense of running costs. For comparison, the English Housing Survey (published January 2026) found that 56% of homes in England were rated A to C in 2024, and C was the most common band. A 2013 government study of repeat sales in England from 1995 to 2011 concluded that energy efficiency is a key factor influencing sale prices for most homes, but it's old, and no official figure tells you how much your own rating will change your price today.

Landlords and investors. The rating matters far more to anyone planning to let the home. GOV.UK's landlord guidance says privately rented homes must currently be rated at least E, unless an exemption is registered, and landlords aren't currently required to spend more than £3,500 to get there.

In January 2026 the government confirmed it will raise the standard. Under its plans, all private tenancies in England and Wales must meet a new standard, equivalent to an EPC C, by 1 October 2030, with landlords expected to spend up to £10,000 per property. Homes with a C or better on an EPC issued before 1 October 2029 will count as meeting it until that EPC expires or is replaced. This still needs Parliament's approval, and the government aims to bring the law into force in 2027. If you're selling a lower-rated home that would suit a landlord, expect investor buyers to factor in the cost of upgrades. See selling a rental property.

Is it worth improving your rating before you sell?

Sometimes. Smaller jobs, such as topping up loft insulation, can be worth doing if they lift the rating, especially when your EPC is old. Bigger work, such as a new heating system or solid wall insulation, is expensive, and you may not get the cost back in the sale price. Look at your EPC's recommendations, get quotes, and ask an agent whether a better rating would change what buyers offer.

If the house needs more work than you can face, you can sell it as it is. Investors and cash buyers, including us, buy homes as they are, so there are no repairs to do first. The trade-off is price: our offer is below market value, and we explain how we worked it out. If your home is in decent condition and you can wait, an estate agent will usually get you a higher price. See selling a house that needs work.

EPC changes on the way

The government is reforming EPCs in England and Wales:

• New measures. New-style EPCs will show four headline measures: energy cost, fabric performance, heating system and smart readiness. The old A to G rating will stay alongside them for a while, so homes can be compared.
• Later launch. The new EPCs were targeted for October 2026, but in March 2026 the government moved the launch to the second half of 2027.
• Same validity. Existing EPCs keep their 10-year validity, and new ones will also last 10 years.
• Fewer exemptions. The government plans to remove the exemptions for heritage buildings and to require EPCs for more short-term lets.

These changes need new regulations, so for now the rules above are the ones that apply.

Wales and Scotland

The EPC rules for selling are the same in Wales as in England, because the 2012 regulations cover both, and so do the rented-home standards described above. Scotland has its own rules and its own EPC register, and the certificate must be displayed in the property.