In 2023, the Scottish Government launched a consultation on legislation to reform Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs).

The drivers for reforming EPCs were based on the following recommendations from the Climate Change Committee: 

• The ratings currently on EPCs are an important policy tool used to define standards and targets for reducing emissions from homes but they are poorly suited to this role; 
• The ratings do not appropriately incentivise the energy efficiency and heating solutions required to deliver net zero homes; 
• The presentation of metrics and ratings should be improved, so they are easier to understand, can be compared with actual performance, and enable policies to be better targeted; 
• Reforms to EPC metrics should be applied alongside wider improvements to the EPC system to improve the quality of assessments and use of data. 

The EPC consultation was intended to support a future Heat in Buildings Bill, which would introduce regulations for domestic buildings to meet minimum energy efficiency standards equivalent to EPC C and rules around zero-carbon heating systems. The consultation on a Heat in Buildings Bill closed earlier this year.  

Legislation implementing the Heat in Buildings Bill is expected to be brought before the Scottish Parliament in the autumn, and the Scottish Government have now said they will respond to the consultations together “later this year”. 

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This article was last updated on 21st May 2024.