Energy Performance Certificates: Advice from Michael Graham Lettings on meeting the new standards

At Michael Graham Lettings we make sure that all our landlords are in compliance with energy efficiency regulations. If you are a landlord and are concerned about the new legislation, the first thing to do is check your energy performance certificate, or EPC. An F or a G rating means the property needs to be upgraded. In our experience the following five measures are relatively low cost to implement and could help dramatically boost your energy score.

1. Put in double glazing - New double glazing could add between five and 10 points to your energy score, which could well push your property into a higher band and help it comply with the new regulations.
    
2. Replace an inefficient boiler - An efficient condensing boiler could add as many as 40 points to your property’s score. The minimum threshold for an E-rated property is 39, so this fix is likely to make your property compliant.
    
3. Loft and wall insulation - New insulation is a particularly cost-effective way to boost your score. Insulating the loft is cheap, easy and effective. The material will cost around £5 per square metre and could make a substantial difference to your EPC rating.
    
4. Install new radiator valves – If a new boiler isn’t on the cards, replacing all the radiator valves could also boost a building up the energy rankings. Using a special kind of “thermostatic” valves could add 10 points to a rating.
    
5. Switch all your light bulbs to LED - LED light bulbs are much more energy efficient than standard bulbs so could be a very cheap fix for those on the margins.

If you are a landlord with a property to let, or a prospective tenant looking for a rental property, Michael Graham Lettings would love to hear from you.