How to Read the EPC Recommendations for a Rental

Find the certificate on GOV.UK

Use the GOV.UK “Find an energy certificate” service and search by postcode, by street name and town, or by certificate number. The service lists existing energy performance certificates (EPCs) for the address. If the property has none, or the one listed has expired, the same service points you to getting a new one.

An EPC remains valid for 10 years, so an old certificate may still be current. Check three things on the result page:

• The date it was lodged and the date it expires.
• The current rating band, from A to G.
• The potential rating the certificate says the property could reach.

If the address has more than one certificate, read the newest. If a postcode search returns nothing, try the street and town search or the certificate number from the tenancy file.

What the recommendations list gives you

The recommendations are a list of measures that should improve the property’s energy efficiency. GOV.UK landlord guidance describes two parts: a short list of top actions and a more detailed list, with cumulative ratings showing the predicted result after each measure is installed.

Read each line for four things: the measure, its estimated cost, its estimated saving, and the rating it reaches once added to the ones above it. The figures are assessor estimates produced at the time of the survey. Treat the costs as a starting point for quotes, not a price, and note that the certificate’s date matters: costs and energy prices have moved since.

The list is advice. It does not oblige you to fit anything. What binds a landlord today is the minimum standard for letting, which is EPC E, with a spending cap of £3,500 including VAT before an exemption can apply.

Today’s law and the planned change

Today the minimum is EPC E, and the maximum penalty is £5,000 per property in total. The government response of 21 January 2026 plans EPC C by 1 October 2030 for in-scope tenancies in England and Wales, with a cost cap of £10,000 per property. Those regulations have not been laid; a statutory instrument is expected in 2027. The planned rules are a direction, not law.

Reading your recommendations now tells you how far the property is from C and roughly what the gap costs. Use the EPC deadline checker to see which dates apply to your tenancy.

Order the measures for the cheapest route to EPC C

Work out cost per rating point, not cost per measure. A table helps. Copy each recommendation from the certificate into a row:

Measure	Estimated cost	Rating after it	Points gained	Cost per point
Example line from your certificate	from the certificate	from the certificate	difference from the line above	cost divided by points

Then follow these rules:

1. Take low-cost fabric measures first when they gain points, such as loft insulation top-up or draught proofing, because they cost little per point.
2. Check each remaining measure for tenant disruption, consent (for example from a freeholder or a lender) and planning limits.
3. Put the large items, such as solid wall insulation or a new heating system, last unless the cheap items cannot reach C on their own.
4. Re-check the cumulative rating line by line, because each figure builds on the ones above it. A measure’s gain depends on what is already above it in the list, so reordering changes the numbers; ask the assessor to re-run the rating after the cheap measures are done.

The honest result is often that insulation gets you most of the way, and a heating change closes the gap or does nothing. Insulation first is usually the cheaper rating point.

Where a heating change fits

Keep the order of work in mind: a heating change is the last big step, not the first. Landlords often start with the boiler because it feels like the main problem, yet the recommendations list usually shows cheaper rating points elsewhere.

A heat pump is one line on the list, often the most expensive one, and it is not the first step for most rentals. Whether it raises the rating depends on how the assessment treats it and on the fabric around it; see do heat pumps improve an EPC rating and EPC C 2030 and your heating choice.

Running costs matter to the tenant. The Ofgem cap from 1 October to 31 December 2026 is 26.32p per kWh for electricity and 7.97p per kWh for gas, so a heat pump with a seasonal efficiency of 3.0 does not automatically cost a tenant less than gas. A poorly insulated home makes this worse. Read heat pump running costs for tenants before promising anything to a tenant.

A heat pump is the wrong answer when:

• Loft, wall or floor insulation is missing and cheap to add.
• The property cannot take the outdoor unit within planning limits.
• The rating gap to C is small enough that fabric measures close it.

If you do go ahead, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme can pay £7,500 towards an air to water heat pump for a landlord who owns the property; the installer applies for you. See Boiler Upgrade Scheme for landlords for the rules.

Next step

Pull the certificate, fill in the table, and work out the cost per point. When you are weighing a heat pump against fabric work, the heat pump landlord calculator sets running costs against the options. Check dates on the GOV.UK register itself; this guide summarises what GOV.UK pages said on 8 October 2026.