Energy use must be advertised with all property listings

Property sellers and landlords must get their energy use certifications in order if they are to keep on advertising their properties.

As from 1 March 2018, property placed on the market for sale or rent and advertised must display its ‘energy use’ within the advert text.

This means that all property owners should have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) in hand prior to placing their property on the market for sale or even for rent.

All property owners should have an Energy Performance Certificate in hand

An EPC is similar to a household electrical appliance energy label. The EPC has scale bars showing the energy rating of a building and its carbon emissions, with zero being the most energy efficient and the other extreme being the least efficient.

The EPC delivers an energy rating for properties which although part of Maltese law since 2009, has never been properly enforced. Now all properties advertised for sale and rent on newspapers, magazines, and brochures must contain the specific energy use.

The EPC regulates the minimum energy performance requirements in buildings. It gives owners, prospective buyers, or tenants the ability to find out how energy-efficient their home is, what they can do to make it perform better and save money, as well as compare a property’s energy performance with other properties they are considering to build, buy or rent.

Energy use is found in the EPC issued by a registered EPB assessor. To be valid, the EPC has to be obtained from an assessor and registered with the Building Regulation Office before being issued to the person who commissions it.

A person or agent acting on behalf of anyone who offers for sale or letting a building, must also show the EPC or a copy to the prospective buyer and tenant and hand it over to them before the date of entering the promise of sale or rent agreement. This shall be based on the design rating of the building if the building is not yet constructed and finished, or the asset rating if the building is already constructed and finished.

Whether the property is already built, or still on plan, an EPC is required by law to be clearly visible and made available to any individual enquiring about a property at the point of advertising.

The two types of EPCs are asset EPCs – prepared for a finished property – and design EPCs, which includes properties that are unfinished and still on plan.

Once an EPC is registered, it will be valid for 10 years.