EPC and legal obligations?

If you are subject to LA licensing then check your T’s & C’s as might be required.
But can’t see any reason not to give them a copy

No you don’t have to give it to them, unless it’s a licensing issue or they have specific reason to ask for one under pt1 housing act 2004. To avoid mission creep I always refuse. Similarly as to whether they ask if it’s a furnished let or not for council tax. Under current law they have no need to know

In most instances local authorities will have a legal right to require production of an EPC. This may be by virtue of being a local weights and measures authority under Section 35 of The Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 or, where a property is being privately rented, by virtue of the fact they are a local authority under Section 37 of The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015. If you have a specific reason to object you should always obtain legal advice but the general powers of inspection are included in the legislation.

Reply to the comment left by David Houghton at 17/01/2023 – 06:52
David, why fight them over a trivial matter like this? All a landlord will do is annoy someone at the Council and increase the chances that they won’t give the benefit of the doubt if a problem arises, e.g. a tenant makes a spurious complaint against. Who benefits by refusing such a simple request?

Reply to the comment left by Dylan Morris at 16/01/2023 – 17:59
The council will ONLY ask to see an EPC if there is something else they think they can use to fine/prosecute you for – so that indicates you may well be on their radar already anyway and have received notice of something else.

There is no reason for a council to ask you for it otherwise.

1. Legally you have to have one conducted.
2. Legally you have to have one and at a certain rating now, to let a property – THAT is a civil contract between you and a tenant.

There is no legal obligation for you to give a copy of the EPC itself to the Council – you could just give them the unique reference number so show one has been completed.

Perhaps I’m getting too cynical – but the idea of leaving something in the public domain that you don’t need to, just rings an alert with me these days.

Reply to the comment left by DSR at 18/01/2023 – 14:22
DSR, you write: “The council will ONLY ask to see an EPC if there is something else they think they can use to fine/prosecute you for”.

How can you possibly know that? On the contrary, it is likely to be a clerk at the Council going through a checklist of things and ticking them off. If the OP has the EPC (or even if he has to download it himself) he should send it to the Council if requested. To refuse to do so immediately creates a hostile situation, completely pointlessly.
If as a landlord, you can’t cope with a bit of irritating bureaucracy, sell your property and invest elsewhere. Bureaucracy and dealing with Councils goes with the territory.

Reply to the comment left by DSR at 18/01/2023 – 14:22
DSR, I think that dealing with councils must be new to you.
They are petty minded and bureaucratic, and are not afraid of using vast amounts of public funds to pursue lost causes. They have their own legal people, and it does not cost councillors, heads of depts, or minor middle managers a single penny of their own money to take any landlord to court. In fact, every day they spend at work causing difficulties for the general public takes them one day closer to their generous pension, and towards next years allowance of fully paid sick leave allocation.
If you ever have the pleasure of applying for a housing licence, not only do they insist that you supply them with a copy of documents which they already have access to, but in the example of the Land Registry document, they refuse landlords a licence when the name of any building society named on the registry is not identical to that on the landlords application. Furthermore, if you have multiple properties, they insist that you furnish them with all of your personal details, criminal convictions, cautions, business interests, on each and every single application. No short cuts allowed. And failure to provide them with any one of the many documents they require will cause them to withhold the licence.
Now many of us could evict our tenants and mothball the properties, relying on the long term capital growth only. And indeed I have been sorely tempted. No longer any need for a licence. No longer any need to inspect the property on a regular basis. Nominally move my cat called Nigel in and apply for 25% single persons discount against the council tax.
But many tenants are decent people. So I just grit my teeth, give the council what they want, and tell my tenant why their rent is higher than either of us want. It’s then up to the tenants what they do at the ballot box.

Reply to the comment left by East Midlands Energy Efficiency at 17/01/2023 – 09:56
I’ve looked under Section 37 of The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 and found nothing about a LL having to produce the full EPC to the LA on request.

Can you advise further please?