Do you need an EPC to sell a house?
Yes. A valid EPC must be commissioned before a Warwick property is marketed for sale, and you must hold the certificate within 28 days. The band has to appear in the advertisement. Check the national register first — a certificate from the last ten years may still be valid.
- Trading Standards can issue a £200 penalty for a dwelling.
- The certificate belongs to the property, so a buyer inherits the remaining term.
- Agents will generally not publish a listing without one.
- Book the EPC before the photographer.
Yes. A valid EPC must be commissioned before any Warwick property is marketed for sale, and you must hold the certificate itself within 28 days. The rating has to appear in the advertisement, and the full certificate must be available free of charge to prospective buyers.
Check whether you already have one
EPCs last ten years and belong to the property rather than the owner. If the house was bought, sold or let at any point in the last decade there is very likely a valid certificate sitting on the national register already. Search the government’s Find an energy certificate service before paying for a new one.
When to get a fresh one anyway
- You have made real improvements since the last assessment and want the higher band on the listing
- The existing certificate expires within the likely life of the sale
- The old certificate looks wrong — typically because the previous assessor defaulted something that was actually there
Does the band affect the sale?
More than it used to. Buyers read the band as a proxy for running costs, lenders are paying closer attention to efficiency, and green mortgage products are tied to specific bands. For a buy-to-let purchaser the band is not a preference at all — a sub-C property carries a known, dated future cost under MEES, and that comes straight off the offer.
Improve before listing?
It depends entirely on timing. If you are not yet on the market and the cheap measures — loft top-up, controls, lighting — can be done in a fortnight, a re-assessment before listing is usually worth it. If you are already under offer, it almost never is: get the certificate, disclose it, and keep the sale moving.
| Band | SAP score | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| A | 92–100 | Excellent — very low running costs |
| B | 81–91 | Very good — efficient modern home |
| C | 69–80 | Good — the target for rented homes by 2030 |
| D | 55–68 | Average — where most of the area sits |
| E | 39–54 | Below par — today’s legal minimum to let |
| F–G | 1–38 | Poor — cannot be let without works or an exemption |
Book before the photographs
Get an instant quote or see our Domestic EPC service. Selling a rental? Read our MEES consultancy page first.
Looking for your own area? We have local EPC guides for Saltisford, Woodloes Park, Rowington, Wolverton, Warwick city centre, Forbes Estate, Wolverton, Rowington and every other Warwick area.