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- Category: Carbon and Energy, Energy Performance Certificate
12th May 2011
Here’s the latest on this. In true Governmental fashion there’s changes being made up to the last minute. What you do need to be aware of is that it is not yet law, and we are waiting for final confirmation.
It now appears The Department for Communities and Local Government is now going to to stagger the change to regulations that were previously expected on July 1st.
Current regulations require the ‘relevant person’ – the seller or landlord or their representative agent – to commission an EPC for residential and commercial sales and for rental properties prior to marketing. They must make ‘reasonable effort’ to secure the pack within 28 days of commission. From July 1st, this timeframe will be reduced to seven days. If after this period the EPC has still not been secured, the relevant person has a further 21 days to do so.
In addition, the full EPC will need to be attached to all written particulars. The option simply to include ratings is removed. This requirement, which is currently optional, will be delayed and is now due to be implemented on October 1st. Furthermore, Trading Standards officers will be authorised to ask agents to produce evidence that an EPC has been commissioned where they are marketing properties without one.
Although the Government has not officially announced the changes, EPC providers were told via an official memo . However, the memo is headed ‘draft’.
The new rules will also be amended to remove what CLG says is the ‘erroneous belief that the provision of the EPC can be delayed until shortly before the parties enter into a contract for sale or rent. This will be achieved by deleting the words “before entering into a contract to sell or rent the building or, if sooner” in Regulation 5(2)(b) of the EPC Regulations’.
The memo ends by saying that the changes will affect all properties marketed after July 1, described as the day that the changes are ‘due’ to come in.
It’s likely that this is the final change, but not definite. We’ll keep you updated with news as it comes in.