From 1st April 2012, a new Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) will be launched providing significant improvement on the current version.

The main purpose for the new EPC is to identify the key features of the energy efficiency recommendations which qualify for Green Deal interest free finance; this will be identified with a Green tick on the EPC. In addition the new EPC is made easier to read with key information now shown on the first page of the EPC.

The new EPC will be a central part of the Green Deal strategy, it will provide the starting point for the instigation of any new Green Deal financing to cover the cost of the recommendations for energy efficiency improvement.

Therefore the new EPC will predominantly serve two main purposes:

1. A legal document for home owner(s) to market their property for sale or
   rent … no change from the current legislation.
2. A required document for the home owner and/or occupier to apply for
   Green Deal finance

In order to apply for the Green Deal finance, it will not be based on the normal “credit or traditional” banking credit score system but based primarily on the property. Thus there will be a number of new criteria, however the dominant factors to qualify for Green Deal finance will be based on the following:

1. A Green Deal report has to be produced and authorised by a Green Deal
   advisor.
2. The property does not have any Green Deal charge shown or applied for
   The application for the loan will therefore be property and not individual based.

Through the Green Deal initiative the home owner will receive a number of
benefits:

1. The ability to tap into funding of up to £10,000 per property to improve
   the energy efficiency of their property
2. The possibility of improving the value and marketable value of their
   property
3. No upfront capital outlay will be required.
4. The repayments of the finance will be the responsibility of the occupier therefore if you are a landlord, then your tenant is liable for the payments for the loan. The monthly repayment will be added onto the tenant’s Utilities bill.
5. Your property will have a higher energy rating when you implement the
   improvements shown on the new EPC
6. The occupier or home owner will benefit from lower energy bills thus
   making annual financial savings

Time Scales
The new EPC will be available from 1st April 2012, however the Green Deal
finance will only be available after October 2012.

The Cost
The cost for the Green Deal report will apparently be fixed at £150 inclusive of
VAT. This price has been set by the regulators. However the cost of this report will be FREE of charge, if the occupier can prove that they are struggling with their Utilities bill.

The cost of the new EPC will be on average £85.00 (as suggested by the training company), this will reflect the additional work required to produce the EPC. On average it will take about one hour to survey the property and input the data to generate the new EPC, excluding travelling time. The price will obviously be determined by market forces so the average price may go up or down.

The cost for insulations of the energy efficiency recommendations will be funded by the Green Deal Finance company. Therefore the home owner will not be required to contribute any capital outlay.
Repayment of the Loan Generally the occupier will be required to repay the loan; this will be added on to the occupier’s Utilities bill and a monthly amount will be repaid. However this monthly amount will be offset against the savings made in the reduction of the occupier’s energy bill. The payment liability will be transferred to the next tenant or occupier. If you are a Landlord then you will benefit from no capital outlay and no repayments of the loan for the entire length of the loan.

The Process
A Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA), who has taken and passed the up grade qualification, can produce the new EPC. The new EPC is then forwarded to a Green Deal advisor (GDA). The Green Deal advisor examines the recommendations on the EPC and produces a separate report. The findings can be communicated to the home owner and/or occupier verbally. Once agreement has been given by the home owner and/or occupier then the instruction to commence the work for the improvements will be forwarded to an authorised Green Deal provider, who will project manage the new energy efficiency measures. The provider will instruct an authorised installer and apply for the finance from the Green Deal Finance company. Neither a DEA nor a Green Deal provider is qualified to make any recommendations from the EPC report by law, this is the prime purpose for a Green Deal advisor, who is trained and legally qualified to make those recommendations.