The Climate Change Committee stated in February 2023 that Energy Performance Certificates are "used to define standards and targets for reducing emissions from homes, but are poorly suited to this role"1. The Committee recommended four primary metrics to replace the current single rating: Energy, Fabric, Heating and Cost1.
The finding is recorded in the Edinburgh Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy, published by the City of Edinburgh Council in December 2023, which sets out the EPC Regulations and the Reform of Energy Performance Certificates context alongside its own delivery plans1. The strategy was prepared in response to the Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (Scotland) Order 2022, which requires all Scottish local authorities to publish an LHEES by 31st December 2023, and thereafter at intervals of no more than five years1.
The Edinburgh LHEES covers the entirety of the City of Edinburgh local authority area1. The Council receives a grant of £75,000 per annum from the Scottish Government from 2022/23 to 2027/28 to deliver it, and states that there is no dedicated budget for its delivery1. Its Delivery Plan focuses on early, low-regrets actions over the first five years of the Edinburgh LHEES (2024 to 2028)1.
The strategy describes the city's housing stock in terms that bear on how any Energy Performance Certificates: What an EPC Measures reform would apply in practice. Edinburgh has close to a third of homes being over a century old, one in 10 homes are listed, and it has a higher proportion of homes with uninsulated walls than Scotland as a whole, at over two-fifths1. One in five homes in Edinburgh do not have double or triple glazing1. Among homes not currently connected to the gas grid, 39.2% are assessed as falling into category 1 in one measure cited, and 44.7% in another1.
"In February 2023, the Climate Change Committee stated that EPCs are \"used to define standards and targets for reducing emissions from homes, but are poorly suited to this role\""
The strategy notes that it is being published at a time of great flux, with the regulatory regime for heat networks, regulations around gas boilers, funding mechanisms for retrofit, the role of hydrogen and the electricity pricing system all currently under review1. It states that the decisions taken in these areas will inform what is and is not achievable over the coming years1.
Why it matters for households
An EPC is the document a householder meets when a home is sold, let or improved under a grant scheme, and it is the basis on which minimum standards for rented homes are set. If the Committee's view is adopted, the rating that appears on that certificate, and the works it implies, could change shape: fabric, heating system, running cost and energy use would be reported separately rather than collapsed into one band. For a home in Edinburgh's older stock, where uninsulated walls and single glazing are common, the split matters because it distinguishes what the building loses through its fabric from what the heating system and fuel price contribute. The strategy records that the Energy Efficiency of the UK Housing Stock varies widely by area and age, and that MEES: Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards for Rented Homes and What are the new energy efficiency standards for privately rented homes in Scotland? both rest on the current certificate. No change to the EPC has been legislated for; the Committee's recommendation is recorded as a statement, not a decision.
What happens next
Revised Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations are programmed to be put before the Scottish Parliament in 20241. The Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021 introduces a regulatory regime for Scotland1. The Edinburgh LHEES Delivery Plan covers 2024 to 2028, with future iterations envisaged to have a wider focus1. The UK Government has committed to fully decarbonising the UK's electricity grid by 20351. The strategy links its aims to the Scottish Government's target of decarbonising the heating of all buildings in Scotland by 2045 and to the Council's target of making Edinburgh a net zero carbon city under its 2030 Climate Strategy1.
Sources1 cited
- edinburgh-lhees, edinburgh.gov.uk