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Government eyes changing legal framework on energy performance certificates and housing association access to data

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is looking to address issues with housing associations' access to Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data, the National Housing Federation (NHF) has said.

The Federation said EPC data was held by the Department and housing associations needed access to it for planning retrofit work and bidding into the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.

The NHF said: “Members have told us that they often struggle to get EPC data for their homes. We have raised this with DLUHC and are assured they’re aware of the issue. We understand that the key to resolving these difficulties is to change the legal framework for making available the data on the energy performance of buildings. In simple terms, the existing regulations prohibit disclosure of data unless in accordance with tightly defined parameters.

“DLUHC believes it is in the public interest to make this information easily accessible to help deliver national climate change objectives. It is therefore reviewing options on the provision of data and has begun preparations to hold a consultation on potential changes to the regulations later in 2022. These difficulties arise from the way the regulations were written, which may need to be resolved by amending them. DLUHC is of course, happy for all organisations to feed into the consultation process.”

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