EPC register: how to check your property's energy rating for free

The EPC register is the government's official database of all Energy Performance Certificates issued in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Every certificate produced by an accredited domestic energy assessor must be uploaded to the register. This is what gives it legal standing.

The register is public. Anyone can search any property's EPC, not just their own. This matters if you are buying: you can check a property's rating before you book a viewing, and you can verify when the certificate was issued and whether it is still valid.

Searching is free at the government's Find an Energy Certificate service. The URL can change over time, so if the direct link does not work, search "find energy certificate" on GOV.UK to locate the current address.

Go to the Find an Energy Certificate service on GOV.UK. You have three search options:

By postcode. Enter the postcode and then select the property from the list of addresses that appears. This is the quickest method if you know the postcode.

By street address. You can search by house number and street name, which is useful if you do not have the postcode to hand.

By certificate reference number. If you have a copy of the certificate and want to verify it or access the full details, enter the reference number printed on the document.

No account is needed. The search is immediate and the full certificate is available to view and download without any payment or registration.

When you find a property's EPC, the result includes:

• The current energy efficiency rating (the letter band, A to G) and the potential rating if all recommended improvements were made
• The assessment date and the expiry date (10 years from assessment)
• The assessor's name and accreditation number
• The full list of recommended improvements, with estimated cost and potential savings for each
• Estimated annual energy costs for heating, hot water, and lighting
• The SAP score (the number from 1 to 100 that the letter band is derived from)
• An estimated annual CO2 emissions figure

The recommended improvements list is worth reading carefully if you are considering energy efficiency work. It is ranked by cost and impact, which is useful for prioritising.

There are two explanations. Either the property has never been assessed, which is possible for older properties that have not been sold or rented since 2008. Or the most recent certificate has passed its 10-year expiry date and the old record has aged off.

If you are selling or renting and there is no valid EPC on the register, you must commission a new assessment before marketing. This is a legal requirement, not optional.

If you are buying, the absence of an EPC may mean the seller has not yet arranged one. Ask the estate agent to confirm when it will be available. They should not be marketing the property without one.

There is no formal process to dispute an EPC rating. If you believe the assessment was inaccurate, perhaps because the assessor missed an improvement that was clearly visible, your options are limited.

You can raise a complaint with the assessor's accreditation body. Each accreditation scheme has a complaints process, and the assessor's accreditation number is on the certificate. This is the right route if you believe professional standards were not followed.

If you simply disagree with the outcome because you have made improvements since the assessment, commissioning a new one is the straightforward solution. A new assessor records the property as it stands on the day of the visit.

A certificate issued in 2015 expires in 2025. A certificate issued in 2018 expires in 2028. The expiry date is based on when the assessor visited, not when you bought the property.

If you are buying and the EPC on the register was issued more than 8 years ago, worth noting that it will expire soon. If a significant renovation was done since then, the rating may no longer reflect the property's actual performance.

The EPC register holds energy performance data only. It does not contain information about structural surveys, damp issues, planning permission history, lease details, or ownership records. For structural and legal property information, you need separate searches through the Land Registry, local authority, and specialist survey companies.