The Government published its partial response to the Energy Performance of Buildings consultation on 21 January 2026, confirming that the single cost-based rating on domestic EPCs will be replaced by four headline metrics: energy cost, fabric performance, heating system and smart readiness. Secondary energy demand and carbon metrics sit behind those, and the legacy Energy Efficiency Rating stays on the certificate until at least the end of 2029. On 9 March the launch was pushed from October 2026 to the second half of 2027, with a revised date and shared implementation plan to be agreed with industry.
This has been in gestation a long time. The consultation first opened in December 2024, the methodology work has been running through the Home Energy Model, which replaces SAP, and the detail of how the metrics will be produced and banded went out for a further consultation which closed on 18 March 2026. Alongside it sits the PRS MEES response, which requires privately rented homes to meet a C on fabric performance plus a C on either heating system or smart readiness by 1 October 2030, with a £10,000 cost cap counting relevant spend from 1 October 2025.
Much of the framework is unchanged. What has changed is that a valid EPC will be needed at the point of marketing rather than within 28 days of it, the heritage exemption from obtaining a certificate goes, bringing many listed and historic buildings formally into the EPC regime, short-term lets come into scope, and a whole-HMO EPC will be required when a single room is let, with a 24-month transition. Consideration is also being given to requiring landlords to have a valid EPC throughout the period of any letting, rather than just having it at the time of marketing.
The part that matters more for flats, listed buildings and historic property is the shape of the new metrics. Fabric performance uses a Fabric Energy Efficiency approach borrowed from Part L of the Building Regulations, so what improves a score is likely to be insulation, glazing and airtightness. In a block, cavities run through the whole building and external wall insulation, windows and roof works are outside leaseholder control, requiring freeholder consent and, in practice, the cooperation of other leaseholders. Many of the same measures can be problematic in listed and historic buildings, where works may require listed building consent, be constrained by planning policy, or simply be inappropriate for the character and fabric of the building. Smart readiness is worse, because a C is likely to require microgeneration plus a smart meter, or microgeneration plus storage, and DESNZ expressly acknowledges that some flats cannot install solar at all, saying only that relevant MEES exemptions will apply. Similar challenges arise for heritage buildings where solar panels and related technologies may be restricted by planning or heritage considerations. Heating system is the one place flats may do well: low-carbon heat networks will always score C or above, though the response says nothing about how communal system performance is allocated to individual dwellings.
The problem with this entire system for landlords of flats is that they are being asked to comply with a standard they cannot themselves meet. The same concern applies to owners of listed and historic buildings. Large parts of the standards will depend on the construction of the building, the approach of the freeholder to updating common areas, and what they are prepared to allow individual leaseholders to do. For heritage properties, compliance may depend equally on what planning authorities and conservation officers are prepared to permit. The only solution being offered is a third-party consent exemption, valid for five years, rather than any mechanism to compel a freeholder. That will leave flat landlords needing to consider whether their flat is likely to meet the standard. Owners of listed and historic buildings should be carrying out the same exercise now. If it is not then they should start preparing consent requests now, because the exemption depends on evidence of refusal, and 2030 is closer than it seems.
David Smith is a Partner in the Bishop & Sewell Landlord & Tenant team.
Email [email protected] or call 020 7631 4141.
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The above is accurate as of 02 September 2026.
The content of this note should not be considered legal advice, and each matter should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
