EPC for Landlords London — MEES, Bundle Discounts, Portfolio Reviews

At three trigger points. (1) Before marketing a property to let — the EPC must be commissioned before the listing goes live and made available to interested tenants within 7 days. (2) At the start of every new tenancy — the EPC must be provided to the tenant on or before tenancy commencement. (3) At sale — buyers must see the EPC before exchange. A single 10-year EPC covers all three triggers as long as it remains in date.

Yes, as long as it is still within its 10-year validity window. There is no requirement to commission a fresh EPC for each new tenancy — the certificate runs with the property, not the tenancy. The exception is where major works (extension, full rewire plus heating overhaul, fabric improvements covering more than 25% of the envelope) have triggered a Part L reassessment in the meantime.

HMO EPC requirements depend on whether the property is one tenancy with shared facilities (single EPC for the whole house) or self-contained units within a converted HMO (separate EPC per unit). Selective and additional licensing schemes — common in Newham, Waltham Forest, Croydon and others — often require the EPC alongside the licence application. See our HMO EPC London page for the full breakdown including 5-storey and 5-person threshold rules.

Yes. The Section 21 (no-fault) eviction route requires the landlord to have provided a valid current EPC at tenancy start. If the property was below band E (or below band C from 1 October 2030) without a registered exemption, the Section 21 notice can be challenged at court and a possession order refused. The First-tier Tribunal also has jurisdiction to issue rent repayment orders against MEES-breaching landlords.

£200 fixed penalty per tenancy for letting without an EPC at all. Under the new MEES regulations the civil penalty ceiling for letting a property below the required band (band E now, band C from 1 October 2030) rises to up to £30,000 per breach per property. Enforcement sits with local authorities, who can also publish penalty notices on the PRS Exemptions Register — which has reputational consequences for portfolio landlords.

Three main grounds. (1) Cost-cap exemption — the landlord has spent up to £10,000 per property on relevant improvements (or 10% of the property value if under £100,000) without reaching the required band. (2) Third-party consent — a tenant, freeholder, planning authority or lender has refused consent for a necessary improvement. (3) Listed-building or conservation-area exemption — the improvement would unacceptably alter the character. All three must be self-certified and registered on the PRS Exemptions Register.

Typically 5 years from the date of registration on the PRS Exemptions Register, after which a fresh exemption application is required if the underlying ground still holds. The exemption is property-specific and landlord-specific — it does not transfer on sale. A new owner inherits the obligation to either remediate or re-register an exemption in their own name.

Landlords are required to spend up to £10,000 per property on relevant energy improvements (or 10% of property value for properties under £100,000) before they can register a cost-cap exemption. Eligible spend includes the works themselves, professional fees, scaffolding and Building Regulations sign-off. ECO4 and Boiler Upgrade Scheme grants offset the landlord contribution. Receipts must be retained for inspection. Above the cap, if the property is still below the required band, the cost-cap exemption can be registered for 5 years.

Same-day in most cases. Once your chosen measures are complete (with installer certificates, Building Regs sign-off where applicable, and visible insulation evidence), a re-assessment is booked. On-site survey 30–90 minutes depending on property size; lodgement on the central register within hours; PDF emailed before the assessor leaves the area.

Increasingly yes. Most mainstream BTL lenders now decline new-purchase mortgages on band F and G properties and apply a stricter rate or LTV on band E. Several specialist BTL lenders have moved to a band C minimum for new lending in anticipation of the 1 October 2030 MEES tightening, and remortgage applications on sub-C stock are seeing higher rates. A current C-rated EPC is increasingly load-bearing for portfolio refinance terms.