Energy Performance Certificates for landlords: costs, records and tax

acrenvo.com/guides/epc-costs-and-records, last reviewed 20 October 2026

Grace is fictional, but her questions come up often. She is about to re-let a small cottage between tenants, and when she looked up its Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) she found it was issued nearly a decade ago. She wants to know whether she needs a new one, what it will cost, and how the costs should go into her records for Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax. This guide covers those points for landlords in England.

How long an EPC lasts

An EPC lasts far longer than a safety check. GOV.UK’s guide to Energy Performance Certificates, last updated on 3 December 2014 and read again on 20 October 2026, says: “An EPC gives a property an energy efficiency rating from A (best) to G (worst) and is valid for 10 years.” It also says: “You must order an EPC for potential buyers and tenants before you market your property to sell or rent.”

An EPC is normally valid for 10 years. Its expiry is a review point rather than an automatic renewal deadline during every continuing tenancy. Check the certificate before marketing or re-letting, and remember that a covered domestic rental must currently meet band E unless a valid exemption applies. For Grace, that makes the re-let the moment to look, because she will be marketing the cottage again. GOV.UK also points to a free way to check: “Use the find an energy certificate service to check if your property has a valid EPC and download it for free.”

The minimum rating for letting

The certificate matters for more than marketing, because the rating on it decides whether most homes can be let at all. The rules are set out in the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 and the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) Regulations 2015. The guide to the energy and decency standards for rented homes explains the minimum rating today, the cap on what a landlord must spend, and what the government has decided for the years ahead.

What an EPC costs

GOV.UK gives no price for an EPC, so the cost varies and we do not state one. It says: “You’ll need to pay for an EPC from an accredited assessor.” and “The cost of an assessment varies by assessor and the size of the property.” So the price is set by the assessor you choose, and we do not recommend or list assessors.

How the costs are treated for tax

GOV.UK’s guidance on working out rental income does not mention EPCs by name. What it gives is a general rule: “You can deduct expenses from your rental income when you work out your taxable rental profit as long as they are wholly and exclusively for the purposes of renting out the property.” Among its examples of costs you can deduct is “direct costs such as phone calls, stationery and advertising for new tenants”, which shows the kind of letting cost the rule has in mind.

Energy efficiency work needs more care, because GOV.UK does not say how it treats that work in particular. Its general rules draw a line between repairs and capital spending: “Allowable expenses include the costs of maintenance and repairs to the property (but not ‘capital’ improvements).” and “Expenses are ‘capital expenses’ if they will be used in the business over a longer period of time, such as when you:”

• add something to the property that was not there before
• alter, improve or upgrade something that was existing
• include the purchase of furnishings and equipment for the property

It goes on: “Capital expenses are not allowable and cannot be claimed against your rental income but you should keep records of them as you might be able to set them against Capital Gains Tax if you sell the property in the future.” The timing can matter too: “Some costs of work on a property before you lease or rent it will be capital expenses, and therefore not allowable expenses.” Before deciding how to treat a large bill, it is worth asking HMRC or a tax adviser.

Fines follow a rule of their own. HMRC’s manual says: “A customer can’t deduct the cost of a fine incurred as a result of their breach of the law.”

One email a month lists the MTD software price changes we have checked and any changes to HMRC’s list of software. If that would be useful, you can sign up for the monthly price-changes email at the end of this page.

Recording the costs under Making Tax Digital

The assessor’s invoice becomes a digital record in the same way as any other property cost. GOV.UK says: “When you create records of your income or expenses, you will need to record the:”

• amount
• date when the income was received or expenses incurred
• category (the type of category you use depends on the type of business you have)

It adds: “Making Tax Digital for Income Tax uses the same categories of income and expenses as Self Assessment.” GOV.UK does not say which category an EPC belongs in, so use the one you would use on your Self Assessment return. Capital spending is different: you do not claim it against rental income, but GOV.UK still says to keep records of it in case it counts towards Capital Gains Tax when you sell. If a single invoice mixes the two, MTD gives you a choice: “If you have a transaction which is part capital and part revenue, you can either:”

• record the full value of the transaction, including the capital elements, and then make an adjustment before submitting your tax return
• create a digital record of just the revenue amount

Keep the certificate itself with the invoice, along with any record of an exemption you register. For tax purposes, GOV.UK says: “You will need to keep your digital records for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline for a tax year. This is the same amount of time you need to keep records for Self Assessment.” The guide to MTD digital records explains the rest of what a record needs.

If your property is outside England

This guide covers England. GOV.UK notes one difference for Scotland in its EPC guidance: “In Scotland, you must display the EPC somewhere in the property, for example in the meter cupboard or next to the boiler.” Its guide to renting out a property also says there are different rules for landlords in Scotland and for landlords in Northern Ireland. Check the rules for the country where your property is before relying on this guide.

The other recurring checks

• Gas safety checks for landlords: costs, records and tax
• Electrical safety reports (EICR) for landlords: costs, records and tax
• Property licences for landlords: costs, records and tax
• Tenancy deposit protection for landlords: costs, records and tax
• Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms for landlords: records and tax

The compliance tracker keeps the dates for all of these checks together, property by property.

Questions about EPCs