LISTED BUILDINGS

Urban myth says that Listed Buildings do not require an EPC.......

However, current guidance from DLUHC (Dept. for Leveling Up, Housing and Communities) via the Assessor Accreditation Schemes is that only the Conservation Officers at your Local Authority Planning Dept., can decide if the Recommendations on a valid EPC are unsuitable to be implemented because "works would unacceptably alter the character or appearance of a building" that is a Listed building or one that is in a Conservation Area.

The likely outcome is that some EPC Recommendations will not be suitable and your Conservation Officer in such circumstances will be able to issue a letter stating this. Other Recommendations may not "unacceptably alter the character or appearance of a building" and in those circumstances your Conservation Officer would not be able to issue a letter of exemption. As a consequence these EPC Recommendations will need to be implemented or at the very least explored and costed to see if they meet the requirements for an Exemption to apply on the basis of energy savings against cost of implementation (this would generally only be relevant for property to let, where the requirements of Private Rental Sector [Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards] legislation applies). 

Only if ALL of the Recommendations on an EPC are deemed unsuitable would it be the case that no EPC is required.....but you have to present a valid EPC (or a detailed energy efficiency report from a specialist surveyor most likely at significantly greater cost) to the Conservation Officer to get to that position.....so in most situations an EPC will be required for any Listed property.

The advice of Assessors and the Accreditation Schemes under which they operate is that an EPC should be commissioned and prepared to DRAFT status. The Recommendations resulting can then be considered, put to your Conservation Officer, and a determination made as to what improvements might be implemented. In most cases a lodged EPC will be appropriate.