How much does an EPC cost?
A domestic EPC costs between £45 and £120 in England & Wales, with most homes falling between £60 and £80. The price is set by the assessor, not by government.
Last reviewed 24/09/2026
There is no fixed price for an Energy Performance Certificate. Assessors are self-employed or work for small firms, they set their own fees, and those fees move with how busy the local market is. A flat in a city centre in a quiet month can be had for £45. A large rural property with three extensions, in the middle of a busy conveyancing season, can be £120 or more.
What you are buying is roughly an hour on site, an hour or so at a computer, and the fee the assessor pays to lodge the certificate on the register. The lodgement fee is a few pounds and is charged per certificate — be careful with quotes that leave it out, because it turns a £45 quote into a £50 one at the point of payment.
What changes the price
| Factor | Effect on price |
|---|---|
| Floor area | The single biggest driver. More rooms means more measuring and more photographs. |
| Extensions and conversions | Each element built at a different time is assessed separately. |
| Travel | Rural properties cost more, sometimes by £20 to £30. |
| Turnaround | Same day or next day lodgement usually carries a premium. |
| Volume | Landlords and agents with several properties can normally negotiate 20% or more off the list price. |
| Access | A tenanted property that needs an evening appointment costs more than an empty one. |
Typical influences on a domestic EPC quote in England & Wales.
Typical prices by property
As a rough guide for England & Wales: a one or two bedroom flat sits at £45 to £65; a three bedroom terrace or semi at £55 to £80; a four bedroom detached house at £70 to £100; and anything larger, listed, or heavily extended at £90 to £150. Cities are cheaper than the countryside, because the assessor fits more jobs into a day.
Those numbers have been broadly stable for several years. The assessment method has not changed much, and competition between assessors is fierce — there are thousands of accredited domestic assessors in England & Wales.
When you do not need to pay at all
The most common reason people pay unnecessarily is that they did not check first. If a valid certificate already exists — lodged within the last ten years — you can use it. Certificates are public, they follow the property rather than the owner, and they do not reset when a property changes hands.
- The property was sold or let in the last ten years: there is almost certainly a certificate.
- The property is a new build: the certificate was produced on completion.
- You had work done and an assessment was lodged afterwards.
The exemptions
A small number of buildings do not need an EPC at all. The list is narrower than people assume, and "it is listed, so I do not need one" is wrong more often than it is right — a listed building is only exempt where compliance with minimum energy efficiency requirements would unacceptably alter its character or appearance.
- Some listed buildings and buildings in conservation areas, subject to the test above.
- Buildings due for demolition, with the relevant permissions in place.
- Temporary buildings with a planned time of use of two years or less.
- Certain places of worship and industrial sites with low energy demand.
- Stand-alone buildings with a floor area under 50 m² that are not dwellings.
Is a cheap EPC a worse EPC?
The method is fixed. A £45 assessment and a £120 assessment follow the same RdSAP rules, feed into the same software and produce a certificate with the same legal standing. What differs is time on site and willingness to record evidence you provide.
That second point is worth real money. Where an assessor cannot see insulation, the software assumes the default for the age and construction of the property — usually that it is not there. A cavity wall recorded as uninsulated rather than insulated is worth around 9 SAP points, which is often the difference between band D and band C. Evidence — an installer certificate, a guarantee, photographs taken during the work — lets the assessor record what is actually there.
So the question is not how cheap the quote is, but whether the assessor will look at your paperwork. Ask before booking.
How to get the best score for your money
- Find the paperwork for any insulation, and have it ready on the day.
- Fit low energy lamps everywhere. It is worth about 1 SAP point for £25 to £90 of lamps, and it takes ten minutes.
- Insulate the hot water cylinder if it is bare: about 2 points for £20 to £60.
- Make loft hatches, meter cupboards and boiler cupboards accessible, so nothing has to be assumed.
- If you are planning insulation work anyway, do it before the assessment rather than after — otherwise you pay twice.
Commercial and Scottish properties
A commercial EPC is a different assessment with a different price: £150 to £400 for a simple level 3 building, and well into four figures for anything with air conditioning or complex ventilation.
Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own registers with their own rules, and prices there differ. The figures in this guide are for England & Wales.