Taking effect 21 May 2010, the Home Information Packs have been suspended. The Home Information Pack (Suspension) Order 2010 suspends the operations of sections 155 to 159 of the Housing Act 2004.
As there is no power to suspend the EPC requirement, the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 have been amended to incorporate a new regulation 5A.
Regulation 5A now requires that an EPC is “commissioned” before the property is put on the market for sale (no changes are made for rented property).
Note: There is no requirement to actually have an EPC before the property is marketed. An EPC must simply have been “commissioned”. All efforts must then be made to ensure that the EPC is obtained before the end of the period of 28 days from when the property was first marketed.
(1) Before the property is put on the market, the seller must secure that an energy performance certificate is commissioned for the property.
(2) Before marketing the property, a person acting on behalf of the seller must be satisfied that an energy performance certificate has been commissioned for the property.
(3) The seller and a person acting on behalf of the seller must use all reasonable efforts to secure that a valid energy performance certificate is obtained for the property before the end of a period of 28 days starting with the day on which the property was first put on the market.
Statutes: Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007, Housing Act 2004 s.155 to 159, The Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2010, The Home Information Pack (Suspension) Order 2010 .
