As of April 1st 2018 you cannot legally let out your property unless your property meets the minimum energy efficiency standard (MEES) regulations. Therefore if your property is let on one of the following types of domestic tenancies:
an assured tenancy?
a regulated tenancy?
a domestic agricultural tenancy?
then you will be required by law to ensure you have an EPC on E or above rating.
Now whilst obtaining an EPC is simple enough, what if your property fails to meet the MEES standards. There are a number of things you can do to improve your rating (which by the way would be capped at £3500 or less inclusive of vat). I will touch upon the cap in my next blog!.
1. If you have portable heating, look to purchase high retention storage heaters
which would be fixed to the wall. This could cost anywhere between £400-£500.
Alternatively if there is gas within the premises then look to install gas central heating.
2. Where there is no double glazing look to install draft excluder tape around windows and doors. Cost £4-£5 only.
3. If you have a flat roof or have a flat within a roof in the roof you could look at installing insulation such as type of rock wool of at least 100-150mm.
Alternatively you could look at installing insulation internally within the walls of at least 75 mm. Cost vary depending on labour but you would be looking at a couple hundred pounds only for the insulation.
5. Where possible install double glazing replacing any single glazed windows but please do refer to conservation and planing rules especially if your building is listed. Costs would drastically vary but expect it to be in the thousands depending on the number of windows required.
These are just a few ideas on how to increase your energy rating should it fall below the MEES regulations. Your domestic energy assessor (DEA) should also be able to provide you with a full list of recommendations.