11 August 2008

Dear Seller

Your estate agent has advised you that from 30 June 2008 any existing dwelling which is for sale has to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).

This is a requirement of the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) Regulations (NI) 2008 which were made by the Department of Finance & Personnel on 10 April 2008. The duty in the Regulations is for the seller (not the seller’s agent) to make an EPC available to a prospective purchaser at the earliest opportunity. Basically, the requirement is that an EPC should be made available when a potential purchaser asks to see written details of the dwelling or when s/he requests to view the dwelling and in any event before entering into a contract to sell.

The EPC has to be accompanied by a report that contains recommendations for the cost-effective improvement of the energy performance of the property.

The objective of this requirement is not only that the prospective purchaser is advised of the energy performance of the dwelling at the earliest opportunity, but is also advised of the cost-effective improvements that can be carried out if s/he purchases the dwelling. If you intend to buy another house you will find such recommendations for your prospective house very useful, particularly given the recent rises in fuel costs.

An EPC may only be produced by a trained and accredited energy assessor who is a member of a Scheme accredited by Government and therefore licensed to practice as an Energy Assessor. You are free to engage any accredited assessor to undertake the energy assessment of your dwelling.

Your estate agent may be trained to provide the EPC, or he may offer to engage an assessor on your behalf. Who you engage to carry out this work is your choice, provided that the Assessor belongs to a recognised Accreditation Scheme.

The Regulations include powers of enforcement and for the issuing of penalty charge notices (levying of fines) for failure to comply with the requirements outlined above. The fine is £200 for each breach of the Regulations.

It is our intention to encourage compliance with the Regulations rather than issuing penalty charge notices, and advising you of these requirements is one of the ways of doing that. However, where we find that there is an ongoing failure to comply, we will not hesitate to use the enforcement provisions which would ultimately lead to a fine being imposed (with the duty to still obtain an EPC).