ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATES – SOCIAL HOUSING

For the purposes of this document we refer to Housing Associations and Local Authorities as
Social Landlords.

Social Landlords are currently required to instruct a Home Information Pack (HIP) if selling
property. The pack will contain an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).
From October 2008 Social Landlords will also be required to instruct an EPC for property
that they rent out.

Importantly, the EPC will not be required from October 08 when an existing tenant renews
their tenancy; the EPC will be required from October once the property becomes vacant.
However, due to the allowed structure for carrying out EPCs on Social Housing it would be
more cost effective to have stock assessed in large groups.
The EPC for property rentals will last for 10 years.

EPCS for rental property
Although an EPC will be required for every property that is being rented to a new tenant
from October 08, it will be possible to use ‘cloning’ or ‘sampling’ methods. In principal, one
original EPC will be required for each property type, this can then be copied for all property
types which are the same or similar in each portfolio. A certificate will be required for each
property but the EPC can be copied across from the same or very similar property types.
This will obviously reduce the amount of time required to produce EPCs for a whole
portfolio and therefore the cost will also be reduced.

The EPCs must be carried out by Domestic Energy Assessors that can demonstrate
understanding of the methodology used for sampling and cloning of EPC’s. This is normally
in conjunction with accreditation bodies, who will then authorise the Domestic Energy
Assessors to clone EPC’s.

Ordering your EPCs for Social Housing
The Sampling Process consists of 4 stages
Stage 1
You will need to provide us with a list of property in your portfolio and include the following
information, preferably in an Excel or Open Office Spreadsheet, separated into coherent
groups according to the following criteria:-
• Geographical Location – Address including Postcode
• Built Form (Property type/description for each property)
• Number of beds
• Age (in RDSAP banding)
• Space Heating fuel
• Water Heating Fuel
• Space Heating System/ Type
• Water Heating System/ Type
• Loft Insulation
• Wall Insulation
• Size (based on number of rooms/ bedrooms)
• No of properties in the group
• Completed sampling form, see below
From this information, we will identify any properties which do not fit in the groupings.

Stage 2
We will then complete an External Visual Inspection to confirm the groupings to identify
obvious differences that would exclude properties from the group. (these properties will
then be surveyed separately, or the grouping can be further sub-divided)

Stage 3
Samples from the group will be taken, using a spread across the locations and not all on the
same street or block.
For each group we will identify the sample size, and the number of contingency properties.
These are worked out to a standard formula, but as a guide
Size of Group Sample size for full EPC
report
Cloned Group
10 5 5
50 17 33
100 20 80
Surveys are then completed as per the sample size.

Stage 4
The results from the samples are analysed, if all criteria are satisfied, then the Median EPC
can be cloned across the group.
If the criteria are not satisfied then the sample size is increased and the process repeated
until either the group are within tolerance, or the whole group has been surveyed.
Once we have received this information we will give you a quotation for the whole portfolio.
However, we can only confirm the exact price once we have approved your own sampling
proposals, this incurs a significant amount of time on our behalf, we would therefore, need
to have obtained a purchase order before we can assess the sample and confirm the exact
price.

In order to give you a guide of costs we charge the following for the EPCs
Each original EPC required £65.00
Each copy EPC £25.00
Each copy EPC will need to be lodged with an accreditation scheme and on the Landmark
Register, this carries a cost to us on every copy EPC we produce.
Please note that only a qualified Assessor can ultimately determine which properties will
require an original EPC and which properties can be copied from the original.

HOME INFORMATION PACKS FOR SOCIAL LANDLORDS
Shared Ownership Schemes
If the property is being offered to a person on a waiting list and no marketing to the public
takes place you will not be required to instruct a HIP. However, if the property is marketed
to the public at any stage you will need to instruct a HIP.

Shared Equity Schemes
If a person is selling a shared ownership/equity to the public on the open market they will
need to instruct a HIP.

Low Cost Housing (pathfinder areas)
These homes will not be exempt, if a property is marketed for sale it will need a Pack.

Key Worker and Low Cost Housing Schemes
If selling these homes you will be required to instruct a HIP. However an exemption is when
via the terms of the scheme entitles the Social Landlord to nominate a subsequent
purchaser from their waiting list as this would mean no marketing was taking place.

How long will the pack last?
The pack will last for no more than one year; a new pack will need to be instructed for any
marketing of a property once the pack is over one year old. All elements of the pack,
including the EPC will need to be replaced.

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