Your Type of Home

Home Energy by Home Type and Household: The Full UK Guide

Home energy differs by home type because of three things: the fabric of the building, the rules attached to it, and who has the right to change it. The common starting point is the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). It gives an assessment of a home's energy efficiency¹ and is valid for a maximum of ten years². After that the routes diverge. Flats and maisonettes are the most energy efficient property type in England and Wales, with a median EPC score of 74³. Older homes, converted flats and bungalows have the lowest average ratings⁴. In Scotland, 14% of off-gas-grid dwellings and 10% of rural dwellings sit in bands F and G⁵.

The two largest physical upgrades covered here are an air source heat pump and solid wall insulation. Each carries its own planning conditions. In England the heat pump's outdoor unit must not exceed 1.5 cubic metres on a house or 0.6 cubic metres on a block of flats⁶. Council guidance sets a noise limit of 42 decibels at a metre from any habitable room⁷. Tenure adds a further layer. Domestic private rented property in England and Wales must reach EPC band E or above⁸, and the UK government has consulted on a new standard with a single compliance date of 1 October 2030⁹.

This page sets out those rules and the evidence behind them for each kind of home and household, across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It links to the detailed pages on renting, flats, off-gas-grid and rural homes, new builds and support for low-income households.

Start with your EPC: what it tells you about your home

An EPC is the one document that almost every other rule on this page refers back to. The assessment records the dwelling type, floor area, construction type, insulation, heating, ventilation and lighting¹⁰. From that record it rates the property from A to G, with G the least energy efficient¹¹. A home rated EPC C or above is generally regarded as having an adequate level of energy efficiency¹². That is why band C appears so often as a policy target.

Because construction type is recorded, the certificate is also the quickest way to see what kind of home you are dealing with in energy terms. It shows solid or cavity walls, the main heating fuel and whether the loft is insulated. Those entries decide which of the later sections of this page apply to you.

Ratings vary sharply by tenure and built form:

• Around two-thirds of council or housing association houses in England and Wales have EPC ratings A to C, compared with around 40% of houses in other tenures¹³.
• Around a third of EPC-rated bungalows reach A to C, compared with almost half of all other types of houses¹³.
• Northern Ireland publishes Census 2021 estimates that classify households by EPC band and by household characteristics, so the same comparison can be made there¹⁴.

Each certificate is valid for 10 years and can be used multiple times in that period. It should be made available to buyers or prospective tenants at no cost, and a buyer receives a copy from the seller that can be reused while it remains valid¹⁵. For what an EPC means at the point of sale, see the page on selling or buying a home with energy equipment.

For energy independence, the EPC is a map and not a measure. It shows where a home loses heat and what it depends on for fuel. It does not show how much of your own energy you generate or store.

What an EPC covers, and what it leaves out

An EPC is a document recording the estimated energy performance of a building and its main heating system or systems. It is a legal requirement whenever a home or non-domestic building is advertised for sale or let¹⁶. That trigger is also its main limitation as a picture of the housing stock. The register in England and Wales does not hold records for all dwellings, because EPCs are only required when a dwelling is constructed, sold or let¹⁷. Around a third of domestic properties in England and Wales do not have an EPC rating at all¹³. A household that has lived in the same owned home for decades may never have needed one.

Which buildings need one

An EPC is required for each self-contained dwelling. Scottish guidance states that this includes HMO-licensed properties let under a joint tenancy agreement, and bedsits or similar units let as a whole¹⁸. The page on HMOs and shared houses covers shared accommodation in more detail.

EPCs are not required for²:

• protected buildings and places of worship
• temporary buildings with a planned use of two years or less
• low energy demand industrial and agricultural buildings
• seasonal residential buildings
• stand-alone buildings (other than dwellings) with a useful floor area of less than 50 m²
• buildings suitable for, or sold for the purpose of, demolition

What the rating does not measure

The headline rating is a cost measure. A House of Commons committee report put it plainly:

The consequence is that a cheaper fuel can score better than a cleaner one, and the rating says little about carbon emissions or comfort. Non-domestic EPCs work differently. They show an asset rating alongside an indication of energy performance based on primary energy use²¹. An EPC is also an estimate made from recorded features and not a reading of your meter. The gap between the two is explored on the page about the new build performance gap.

Reading the ratings: Band A to G and what drives the score

Assessments are banded from A to G, where A is the most efficient, with an A+ band for non-domestic properties only²². The Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) assigns one of seven bands to a dwelling, from A (most energy efficient) to G (least energy efficient)²³. The bands sit on a numerical scale. Both the energy efficiency rating and the environmental impact rating are scored from 1 to 100 and then split into bands A to G²⁴. In Scotland the Energy Efficiency Rating gives an A to G band and a 1 to 100 number based on the cost to run the dwelling, normalised to the floor area²⁵.

What pushes a home into the lowest bands

The Scottish House Condition Survey 2024 shows which dwellings fall into bands F and G: 9% of pre-1919 dwellings, 12% of electrically heated homes, 9% of oil-heated homes, 11% of homes on other fuels, 5% of detached homes, 14% of off-gas-grid homes and 10% of homes in rural areas⁵. Age, fuel and location overlap. An old, detached, rural home off the gas grid carries every one of those risk factors at once. The pages on off-gas-grid homes and rural homes deal with that combination.

The direction of travel is upward. In England, the proportion of homes in the lowest bands of E to G fell from 23% to 9% over the last decade, according to the English Housing Survey's 2024 figures²⁶.

The same A to G lettering appears on appliance energy labels, which rate products from A to G in terms of energy use²⁷. The two scales are unrelated. An A-rated appliance does nothing to a building's EPC band.

A single score under reform

The Climate Change Committee has recommended that domestic EPCs carry four primary metrics in real-world units²⁸:

• total energy use intensity
• space heating demand intensity
• heating system type, ranked from 1 to 6
• energy cost intensity

The Scottish Government's response to its EPC reform consultation sets out a Heat Retention Rating, a Heating System Type Rating and an Energy Cost Rating²⁹. Separating fabric from fuel cost would make the certificate more useful for judging independence. A well-insulated home needs less of any fuel, from any supplier.

Air source heat pumps: how they work and what they suit

Air source heat pumps extract heat from the outside air to heat your home and water³⁰. Northern Ireland's official guidance lists them as suitable for residential homes, apartments and small commercial buildings³¹. Two forms exist, and the difference matters for grants:

• An air-to-water system transfers heat drawn from the surrounding air to water in a wet central heating system.
• An air-to-air system is not considered a renewable system under ECO4³².

The page comparing an air-to-air heat pump with a portable air conditioner covers the second type.

Ground source heat pumps do the same job from a different source. They transfer energy from the natural heat stored in the earth to heat the home and domestic hot water³³. Welsh Government guidance names three types of domestic heat pump where permitted development rights apply: air source, ground source and water source³⁴.

Modelling for the Scottish Government on new-build energy standards found that the air source heat pump consistently gave the lowest delivered energy result across the home archetypes modelled³⁵. In the same modelling it had the lowest capital cost for houses, but not for the block of flats, where it was the highest for the business-as-usual specification³⁵. That split between houses and flats recurs throughout this page. For the alternatives in flats, see electric boiler vs heat pump.

A heat pump removes a household's dependence on gas, oil or LPG deliveries and replaces it with dependence on the electricity grid and a supplier. It does not make a home self-sufficient on its own. The page on whether solar panels can power a heat pump addresses how far on-site generation can narrow that gap. The page on heat pump cooling in summer covers the other season.

Heat pump planning rules: size, siting and noise limits

In England, permitted development rights cover the installation, alteration or replacement of an air source heat pump on a house or block of flats. They also cover the curtilage of either, including a building within that curtilage⁶. The conditions are specific, and an installation that misses any of them needs a planning application.

The size limit, and why documents disagree

The legislation made on 6 May 2025 sets the limit for an air source heat pump on, or within the curtilage of, a dwellinghouse at 1.5 cubic metres³⁶. The Planning Portal gives the same figure: 1.5 cubic metres on a house and 0.6 cubic metres for a block of flats, in each case including housing⁶. Some council guidance still states 0.5 cubic metres for a house³⁷. Central Bedfordshire's guidance confirms 0.6 cubic metres on a block of flats³⁸. 5 cubic metre figure.

Conditions for permitted development in England

The conditions below are from the Planning Portal⁶, except where marked.

Bedford's guidance also states that all parts of the unit must be at least one metre from the property boundary, and that only the first installation is permitted development⁷. The unit must also be sited, so far as practicable, to minimise its effect on the building's appearance and on the amenity of the area⁶.

New Forest's guidance states the conservation area rule in the same terms. It adds that a ground source heat pump within the curtilage of a house or block of flats does not require planning permission, though listed building consent may be required if the property is listed³⁹. The rules for each built form are gathered on the page about permitted development by home type. Flat owners will also need leasehold consent.

Heat pump costs and running costs: what to expect

Heat pump prices are installer-quoted and depend on the home's heat load, its radiators and its hot water arrangements. No single published price applies to every home. What official evidence does establish is where the money goes over the life of the system. A government evidence review cites an estimate by Nesta made under current policy and market conditions, published in June 2025⁴⁰:

Running cost is therefore the larger question. A household comparing quotes on installation price alone is looking at the smaller part of the total.

Performance in use is what drives that running cost. A May 2026 government-published report on the heat pump transition describes a gap between expected and achieved performance. It states that this gap is equivalent to several hundred pounds a year in running costs for a typical fuel poor home⁴¹. The figure is an estimate, not a tariff. It shows that design, sizing and commissioning decide whether a heat pump lowers a bill or raises it. The Warm Homes: Local Grant rules reflect the same concern. For retrofit and packaged hybrid systems, the heat pump must be sized to provide a minimum of 55% of the calculated heat load⁴².

For households already heating with electricity, the comparison is different. It is covered on the page about heat pump bills in an electrically heated flat. Grant contributions are covered under how much you pay yourself under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. Where grants require a certified installer is covered under the certified installer grant rule.

Running cost is the part of a heat pump's lifetime cost that stays exposed to electricity prices. That part is the majority. Better fabric reduces that exposure, which is why insulation comes next.

Solid wall insulation: the main option for pre-1930 homes

Solid walls lose even more heat than cavity walls, according to Planning Portal guidance⁴³. They have no gap to fill, so the insulation has to be added to one face of the wall. Northern Ireland's official guidance describes the two routes. One is a decorative, weatherproof insulating treatment on the outside of the walls. The other is ready-made insulation boards fitted internally⁴⁴.

External insulation is usually installed where there are severe heating problems. It is also used where the exterior of the building needs some other repair work, which gives the opportunity to add insulation⁴³.

Public schemes treat solid wall insulation as a core measure for older stock. In Northern Ireland, the Whole House Warmer Homes NI scheme in the 2026 to 2027 list lists the following⁴⁵:

• solid wall insulation, with cavity wall insulation where required
• loft insulation
• a natural gas central heating system where the home is on the gas network
• an oil central heating system where gas is not available, or high heat retention electric storage heaters

Northern Ireland's current Decent Homes Standard takes a narrower view of what counts as effective insulation in a dwelling with gas or oil programmable heating. It requires cavity wall insulation where cavity walls can be insulated effectively, or loft insulation that meets current NI Building Regulations standards where there is loft space⁴⁶. Solid walls do not feature in that test, which is one reason solid-walled homes can meet a standard and still be hard to heat.

Related pages cover whether you can replace a boiler with a heat pump if your walls are unusual, and how to retrofit a 1930s bungalow.

Solid wall insulation costs, savings and guarantees

Official guidance does not give a price, and published estimates of both cost and annual savings differ widely between sources. Prices are installer-quoted and turn on wall area, access, the finish chosen and whether the work is internal or external. What official guidance does say is direct:

That timing point is the main cost lever available to a household. Re-rendering, repointing, replastering or a new kitchen or bathroom on an outside wall all involve work that insulation would otherwise duplicate.

The benefits described in official guidance go beyond the heating bill. The Planning Portal states that solid wall insulation will help create a more even temperature in the home. It will help prevent condensation on the walls and ceilings. It can also reduce the amount of heat building up inside during summer hot spells⁴³. The pages on overheating and hot weather and cold homes and health explain why both ends of that range matter.

On guarantees, no official source gives a standard term, so none is given here. The scheme rules on the certified installer grant rule page are the relevant starting point for work that is grant funded.

Wall insulation is the measure that cuts demand for any fuel. It carries no dependence on an app, a supplier or a manufacturer staying in business once it is installed.

Insulation inside or outside: which approach fits which wall

Welsh Government building regulations guidance describes solid walls as generally insulated by placing some form of thermal element on the inside, the outside, or both⁴⁷. The choice is rarely free. It is set by the building's appearance, its ownership and how the wall handles moisture.

When internal insulation fits

Scottish Government guidance on converting traditional buildings sets out the advantage plainly: insulation can be installed in one property, or even one room only, where needed⁴⁸. That matters in a flat, a terrace or a tenement, where the outside face is shared or protected. It also matters for listed and older buildings, whose external appearance cannot be changed. The same guidance is specific about materials:

In plain terms, a traditional solid wall manages moisture by absorbing and releasing it. Guidance for those buildings favours insulation that lets that process continue. Ventilation has to be considered alongside. See ventilation in flats and apartments and the pages on condensation damp.

When external insulation fits

External insulation suits a wall that already needs repair⁴³. It changes the building's appearance, which is why planning and leasehold questions come first. In Scotland, the Energy Efficient Scotland: Area Based Scheme lists the following measures⁴⁹:

• external wall insulation
• internal wall insulation
• cavity wall insulation
• loft insulation
• underfloor insulation
• room-in-roof insulation
• park home insulation

What works best by home type: houses, flats and rural homes

Flats

Flats and maisonettes were the most energy efficient property type in England and Wales in the year to March 2025, with a median score of 74³. Converted flats, by contrast, are among the types with the lowest average ratings⁴. In Scotland, flats have a mean environmental impact rating of 69.4, against 62.4 for houses⁵. Electricity is the main heating fuel in 14% of Scottish flats, a higher share than for any of the three house types⁵⁰. A flat has fewer exposed surfaces but less control. Walls, roofs and outside space usually belong to someone else. See energy improvements in flats, EPC improvements in a flat, high-rise flats and building safety and energy independence for renters and flats.

Older, traditional and rural homes

Responses to Scotland's Heat in Buildings Bill consultation frequently noted that traditional buildings, flats and rural properties are less suitable for both energy efficiency improvements and clean heating systems⁵¹. The F and G figures for pre-1919, off-gas-grid and rural dwellings bear that out⁵. The pages on oil vs LPG heating, park homes and solar panels on a Georgian home cover these cases.

New builds

In England, a new dwelling's primary energy rate, emission rate and fabric energy efficiency rate must not exceed their respective target rates, both as designed and as built⁵². Official statistics break down the energy efficiency characteristics of new dwellings by property type and heating system⁵³. ONS reports on efficiency, emissions and main fuel for new and existing homes by property type, tenure and age⁵⁴. The Home Energy Model is the calculation methodology designed to assess the energy performance of homes⁵⁵. Scottish Government material identifies it as the domestic counterpart to the Simplified Building Energy Model used for non-domestic buildings⁵⁶. See new build homes and energy and living in a low-energy home.

Brands and product ranges sold in the UK

This page covers rules and home types, not products, and the maker information relevant to it is limited. Heat pump manufacturer Hitachi states that most high-temperature heat pumps on the market use refrigerants such as R290 or R32. It also states that incentives and government grants may be available in the UK for installing energy-efficient systems such as high-temperature heat pumps⁵⁷. Those are a maker's statements about its own product category. Grant eligibility is set by the scheme rules described below, not by manufacturers. Any heat pump also ties a household to its maker for parts and, often, to an app or cloud service for controls. For ventilation products, see the page on Vent-Axia.

Funding routes: grants, loans and support schemes

Support is organised by nation, and within England largely by local authority.

England: Warm Homes: Local Grant

The supported home types are⁵⁸:

• houses
• flats
• park homes
• houses in multiple occupation with separate kitchens
• some other property types may also apply

The home must have an EPC of D to G, or the equivalent for a park home⁵⁸. The grant is open to homes using any fuel type: gas, electric, oil, LPG, coal or solid fuel⁶¹. The July 2026 policy guidance confirms that all primary heating fuel types are eligible. It lists the following measures⁴²:

• insulation types
• heating controls
• hot water cylinder measures
• low energy lighting
• solar PV and solar thermal
• digital and smart controls
• draughtproofing
• double or triple glazing
• energy efficiency doors
• domestic batteries

Council descriptions summarise the offer as insulation, energy-efficient heating systems and renewable energy installations⁶². Some councils run a support service alongside it. East Herts offers grant eligibility checking, benefits support, supplier switching advice, debt advice and referral to other organisations or contractors⁶². More detail is on the pages for help for low-income households in England and ECO4 Flex referrals.

Across Great Britain: supplier schemes

Ofgem describes energy supplier schemes and grants as help with energy costs, paying off energy debt, and making energy-saving improvements to your home⁶⁰.

Scotland and Wales

Scotland's Area Based Schemes are delivered through councils⁴⁹. See Warmer Homes Scotland and Nest in Wales.

Northern Ireland

NI Energy Advice offers referrals to energy grants and other sources of help⁵⁹. Its advice topics are⁶³:

• energy grants and support
• heating and energy use
• energy bills and fuel poverty support
• damp, condensation and ventilation
• insulation and home improvements
• renewable energy
• changing electricity or gas supplier
• heating-oil savings

Belfast City Council describes the same service as free advice on saving energy at home, energy efficiency grants and oil buying clubs⁶⁴. See help for low-income households in Northern Ireland.

Related support for particular households is covered under fuel poverty, vulnerable and medically dependent households, older people, the Disabled Facilities Grant and home improvement agencies.

How the rules are changing for owners and landlords

The current minimum

In England and Wales, the minimum standard of energy efficiency for certain domestic rented property is a rating of E or above⁸. The regulations cover private, local authority and other public body landlords. They also cover a tenant who sub-lets a property within scope⁸. A landlord currently letting a property with a rating of F or G must improve it to a minimum of E, or register an exemption where one applies. The Welsh council guidance that states this describes the rule as the 2018 "Minimum Level of Energy Efficiency" standard⁶⁵. The rule dates from April 2018⁶⁶.

Tenants have a related right in England. From April 2016, landlords of residential properties have not been able to unreasonably refuse a tenant's request for consent to make energy efficiency improvements where financial support is available⁶⁶. See asking a landlord for energy improvements and renting and home energy.

What is proposed

The consultation on improving the energy performance of privately rented homes was last updated on 21 January 2026. Its proposals are⁹:

• a single compliance date of 1 October 2030 for the new standard
• an increase in the number of exemptions available, with amendments to the current ones
• more engagement on short-term lets before any further consideration

For landlords, the detail is on landlord energy and safety duties, funding energy upgrades as a landlord, the Renters' Rights Act and energy and the overview of the UK private rented sector. Standards in other tenures and nations are covered under social housing energy, the Decent Homes Standard, the Repairing Standard in Scotland and fitness for human habitation in Wales.

EPC reform and rental standards interact. If the certificate moves from a single cost-based score to separate fabric, heating and cost metrics, as the Climate Change Committee has recommended and Scotland has set out, the measure used to judge a rented home will change too²⁸. An owner planning work for a future band is planning against a measure that is itself under review.