Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what reports he has received from the Office for Product Safety and Standards on the role of letting agents in ensuring renters receive energy performance certificates.

My department has not received any reports from the Office for Product Safety and Standards regarding the role of letting agents in ensuring new tenants are given a copy of an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) when renting a property.

The responsibility for enforcement of the requirement to provide an EPC when a property is offered for let is set out in the Energy Performance of Buildings (England & Wales) Regulations 2012 (‘the Regulations’) and is placed on Local Weights and Measures Authorities (LWMAs) in England and Wales.

Government is currently consulting on whether it should seek primary powers to place a requirement on letting agents and online property platforms to only advertise and let domestic properties compliant with the Private Rented Sector Regulations.