The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference – COP26 – will see leaders, dignitaries, climate change experts and campaigners from all over the world visit Glasgow next month, and it’s a mouth-watering prospect for the city to be at the forefront of global news.

At Robb Residential we had been considering a blog solely focused on EPCs (Energy Performance Certificates), but the coming of COP26 and this being Scotland’s Climate Week highlights we all have a role in combatting climate change. As world leaders play politics, it emphasises some important considerations for homeowners and landlords.

The UN conference will be a great advert for the city of Glasgow, the beautiful Scottish countryside and all our friendly nation has to offer. Hours of news and reportage will showcase Scotland and our own drive towards Net Zero, but what about the housing market and its place – what are the benefits of a high rating on an EPC; and the likely pitfalls of a low rating?

Depending on what you read, where, the indirect benefits of a good, high-scoring EPC can be tenuous, but with Climate Change now almost fully recognised by Western economies and their leaders, it’s almost certain that those indirect boons will emerge as accepted truths. How long this will take is for debate, but homeowners and landlords should expect better mortgage rates and enhanced property values as the drive to net zero progresses. And as we continue on that journey, we should be looking out for tax breaks or possible fines to encourage better EPC ratings. Darlington Council are looking at fining existing rogue landlords if EPC ratings are not improved: this will not be an issue for Robb Residential landlords and tenants, but it does highlight one possible strategy for driving change.

Currently, the benefits and drawbacks around EPCs are more direct and easily understood.

Benefits of a Good EPC Rating

1. Properties for sale attractive to buyers
2. Rental properties attractive for tenants, in an increasingly climate-aware demographic
3. Energy costs understood moving forward
4. An easy way to understand where energy savings and improvements can be made
5. As well as being mandatory, increasingly an EPC should be seen as simply the right thing to do, protecting your property investment as well
6. For landlords, a good rating will give tenants peace of mind and cut turnover
7. Illustrates homeowners and landlords are responsible citizens (at Robb Residential, we know this already)
8. An efficiently heated and ventilated property will be less prone to degradation and, in the case of rental property, abuse by tenants.

The drawbacks, increasingly, will be the opposite of the above. It seems a blithe statement of the obvious but poor ratings will eventually become a turn-off for possible buyers or tenants, and low scores may be used as bargaining chips to seek lower purchase prices or lower rents. It is worth thinking now about how your EPC rating can be as robust as possible.

We could have called this post 8 Ways EPCs Can Help Homeowners and Landlords, but with almost 8 billion people on the planet and COP26 on its way to Glasgow, we felt our chosen title was apt.

Robb Residential are an Estate Agent based in Glasgow who deal in a range of unique and beautiful properties in the middle-to-prime market in Scotland. For more information, please contact us, email or call on 0141 225 3880.

Disclaimer: all statistics, percentages and references are correct at the time of writing.