Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2025 - EPC reform consultations: SG response - update

2. Summary of retained and new / updated regulatory provisions and transitional arrangements

The Scottish Government intends to bring the new Regulations into force on 31 October 2026. In making this change, the regulations will revoke the existing Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2008 and will replace them.

As a result, all EPCs issued under the 2008 Regulations will cease to be valid and a new EPC meeting the requirements of the 2025 Regulations will be required for all properties from October 2026 (subject to the specific transitional arrangements below).

The Scottish Government is taking this approach to ensure that all consumers will benefit from day one from the new information and rating system that they have helped to design through the extensive user testing. It also avoids the risk of confusion within the property market were there to be two different types of EPC in circulation, which would impact estate and lettings agents and conveyancing solicitors making property transactions, and upon lenders and landlords who need clarity on how they are measuring the performance of their portfolio.

There are some particular parts of the market where the new Regulations put in place transitional arrangements to mitigate day one impacts for live property transactions or ongoing display requirements when the Regulations come into force. These are outlined below and comprise:

• properties which are already advertised for sale or for let on the day on which the regulations come into force
• short term let properties which are often continually advertised
• certain large non domestic buildings (frequently visited by the public) which are required to always display a valid EPC

The Scottish Government will engage with all stakeholders in the property market directly affected by the new Regulations (estate and lettings agents, landlords, conveyancing solicitors, surveyors, EPC assessors, lenders, local authorities) and with the general public through a comms and marketing campaign to ensure they understand the changes – in particular the need to obtain a new EPC.

2.1 Retained provisions

The new regulations will continue to:

• require that a valid EPC exists when:
  • a new building has been constructed;
  • when a building is to be sold;
  • when a building is to be let to a new tenant
• certain large non-domestic buildings (frequently visited by the public) are required to display it
• appoint local authorities as enforcement authorities for the purpose of these regulations and for enforcement authorities to issue penalty charge notices
• allow Scottish Ministers to approve organisations that accredit energy assessors
• allow Scottish Ministers to approve EPC calculation methodologies
• require for the provision of an EPC Register
• retain EPC penalty charges at the level currently set in the 2008 Regulations

2.2 New and updated provisions

The new Regulations will introduce the following new and updated provisions:

• a new rating system for domestic buildings:
  • Heat Retention Rating (reflecting fabric energy efficiency),
  • Heating System Rating (covering type, emissions and efficiency),
  • Energy Cost Rating (an updated version of the existing Energy Efficiency Rating).
• a new rating system for non-domestic buildings:
  • Energy Performance Rating
  • Energy Use Rating
  • Direct Emissions Rating
• a new Property Report which will set out potential improvement measures that could improve the energy efficiency and lower the energy costs of the building; and which will set out information on potential alternative heating systems which could reduce emissions (and their potential installation and running costs)
• reducing the validity period of EPCs from 10 to five years to ensure consumers have more up-to-date information.
• introducing strengthened operational governance arrangements for EPC assessors and Approved Organisations through new accreditation scheme requirements (including new onsite audit and inspection requirements) to enhance quality assurance for consumers.
• amending EPC lodgement fees to £6.00 for domestic certificates and £15.50 for non-domestic certificates, to ensure that they can cover the costs of providing the technical and operational infrastructure (EPC Register, calculation methodologies, onsite audit and inspection) to support the EPC regulations and which provide benefit to consumers.
• updating the requirements on disclosure of energy performance data

2.3 Transitional provisions

During our stakeholder engagement and impact assessments accompanying the new Regulations, the Scottish Government has identified the need to mitigate potential negative impacts on particular parts of the property market. We have therefore made provisions within the new Regulations (Regulation 38) for transitional arrangements as follows:

• Buildings for sale or let (other than short term lets)

Regulation 5 makes provisions for a valid EPC and property report to be provided both when the building is advertised for sale or let (to prospective buyers or tenants) and when it has subsequently been sold or let (to the buyer or tenant).

We recognise that EPCs are provided as part of a live property market in which transactions will already be underway on the day on which the new Regulations come into force, or where landlords or sellers may have already commissioned and paid for EPCs in advance of advertising their property for sale or lease, or may be relying on an existing EPC in order to complete their transaction.

The Scottish Government wants to minimise the risk of any disruption to the smooth functioning of the property market and therefore Regulation 38 makes transitional arrangements which provides for up to a one year grace period for properties being sold or let.

These transitional arrangements on buildings for sale or let cover all existing domestic and non-domestic buildings, other than short term lets, particular large non-domestic buildings frequently visited by the public, and newly-constructed buildings (see provisions for these other types of properties, below).

The Regulations specify a one year ‘relevant period’ within which the transitional arrangements apply:

• The relevant period is, at maximum, one year, from 31 October 2026 to 31 October 2027, but ends earlier if a property is sold or let before 31 October 2027.

The transitional provisions in Regulation 38 therefore allow that:

• between 31 October 2026 and 31 October 2027, properties being sold or let may continue to use either valid EPCs and recommendation reports issued under the 2008 Regulations or valid EPCs and property reports issued under the 2025 Regulations.

But they also restrict the length of the one year transition period for properties sold or let within that one year period, in the event that they are sold or let again:

• an EPC and recommendation report issued under the 2008 Regulations may be used for the sale or let of a property after 31 October 2026, but if a property is sold or let again within the one year transition period, a new-style EPC and property report issued under the 2025 Regulations will then be required.

Regulation 38 specifies a clear backstop date for the end of the transition:

• after 31 October 2027, only the new-style EPC issued under the 2025 Regulations will be allowed for sale or for let.

In practice, from 31 October 2026 onwards, when a building owner commissions a new EPC, assessors will only be able to issue new-style EPCs meeting the requirements of the 2025 regulations, but if an old-style EPC meeting the requirements of the 2008 regulations is still valid during the transition period, it can still be used until the end of the transition period, or completion of the sale or let whichever comes first (i.e. the old-style EPC can be downloaded from the EPC Register and used in a property transaction).

From 31 October 2026 to 31 October 2027, we will therefore see diminishing numbers of EPCs previously generated under the 2008 Regulations being used in property transactions. Conversely, we will see increasing numbers of EPCs issued under the 2025 Regulations. From 31 October 2027, only EPCs issued under the 2025 Regulations will be allowed.

The Scottish Government believes this represents a fair transition which will mitigate the following particular impacts:

• a potentially significant increase on day one in the number of EPCs that would be needed for properties which are continuously advertised, such as for short term lets, allowing hosts adequate time to obtain a new 2025-style EPC
• a potentially significant increase in year one in the number of EPCs that would be needed for private rented sector properties, where around 31% of the stock turns over per year, allowing landlords more time to obtain a new 2025-style EPC when advertising a new let
• day one and year one pressure on the assessor market as it adjusts to higher levels of expected demand for new certificates (outlined in the Business & Regulatory Impact Assessment which accompanies the Regulations), allowing demand to be more evenly spread across year one and two from the Regulations’ 31 October 2026 in-force date

By introducing the new Regulations 12 months in advance of them coming into force, and by allowing the one year transition period for sales and lets after they come into force, the Scottish Government believes that it is giving sufficient time for property market actors to adjust to the new requirements. We will engage with all stakeholders in the property market and with the general public through a communications and marketing campaign to ensure they understand the changes. The one year transitional period will allow more time for the new rating system and redesigned certificate to become embedded and understood within the market before it is required for every property transaction.

• Short term lets

We recognise that short term lets are normally continuously advertised and therefore on day one of the new Regulations, it would not be possible for all hosts to immediately obtain a new-style EPC issued under the 2025 Regulations. Short term let properties will therefore have a full one year grace period in which to obtain a new-style EPC. This means that:

• between 31 October 2026 and 31 October 2027, short term let properties may continue to use either valid EPCs and recommendation reports issued under the 2008 Regulations or valid EPCs and property reports issued under the 2025 Regulations.
• after 31 October 2027, only the new-style EPC and property report issued under the 2025 Regulations will be allowed for the letting of a building as a short term let.

As outlined in the BRIA accompanying the Regulations, this grace period allows the sector to have a more evenly-spaced transition to the new-style EPC for Scotland’s approximately 30,000 short term lets, which should minimise any potential disruption to the market.

• Large non-domestic buildings (frequently visited by the public)

Regulation 13 makes provision that certain large non-domestic buildings which are frequently visited by members of the public must always display a valid EPC in a prominent place that is clearly visible to visiting members of the public.

The Scottish Government recognises the need to mitigate the risk that on day one, several thousand large buildings would immediately require a new EPC. Given the significantly higher costs of preparing an EPC for these more complex non-domestic buildings, and the smaller numbers of active non-domestic assessors available within the market, we do not believe that it would be possible to issue new EPCs at a rate beyond current market capacity.

Regulation 38 therefore makes provision that buildings which are affected by the requirements of Regulation 13 can continue to use the old-style EPC they currently display under the 2008 Regulations until the end of its validity period, or until 31 October 2031.

This means that if the validity of an EPC issued under the 2008 Regulations expires before 31 October 2031, it will be required to use a new-style EPC. After 31 October 2031, all building owners or occupiers covered by Regulation 13 will need to obtain and display a new-style EPC meeting the requirements of the 2025 Regulations.

By allowing this five year grace period, the Scottish Government believes that this will help to smooth the transition for these large and often complex non-domestic buildings to obtain a new EPC.

As with other parts of the property market, the Scottish Government will engage with building owners and occupants covered by Regulation 13 to ensure that they understand the requirement to have a new EPC before the new Regulations come into force.

• New construction

Regulation 6 sets out the requirement for EPCs to be provided upon construction of a new property. This replaces the existing requirements in standard 6.9 of Schedule 5 of the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004, and brings all legal requirements for the provision of EPCs into one set of regulations. Developers of new buildings completed on or after 31 October 2026 will be required to give a copy of a valid EPC and Property Report that meets the requirements of the 2025 Regulations to the owner of the building within seven days of submitting a completion certificate to a local authority verifier. As with other parts of the property market, the Scottish Government will engage with developers of new buildings and with local authorities to ensure that they understand the new requirements of Regulation 6 before the new Regulations come into force.

Communicating the transitional arrangements

We will develop further guidance as part of the communications and marketing campaign which we will deliver to engage affected stakeholders ahead of the regulations coming into force in October 2026, to ensure that all property market actors and the general public understand how the regulations will apply to their type of property.