Existing energy performance certificates (EPCs) are not ‘fit for purpose’.

That’s the suggestion from Lord Deben, Chair of the Climate Change Committee (CCC), who said a reform of domestic EPC rating metrics is needed to help the UK deliver net zero.

In his letter to Lee Rowley, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Lord Deben stressed that EPCs are a “critically important policy tool for delivering net zero homes”.

The head of the CCC continued: “EPC ratings should provide clear information to consumers about energy use in homes. The metrics should incentivise homeowners to make their properties more energy efficient and adopt low carbon heating.

“The metrics should have simple names which make their meaning obvious and allow them to be targeted by policies. The rating scales should use real-world units so they can be easily understood and compared against actual performance. The ratings should continue to be split into bands to allow simple comparisons between properties.”