Chamber and committees

No matter how much or how little information people want to provide, I emphasise that our approach is all about empowering them.

If I were a prospective tenant, I would like to be able to assess how expensive my bills might be on the basis of the property’s heat retention rating. There is empowerment and the ability to choose on that side of things. Equally, the approach can help to drive behaviour change. I appreciate that the Government has a role to play in setting standards to accompany the foundation of the new EPC, but that is a discussion for another time—I will not open that up just now.

That would largely be about our wrapper. Patrick, do you want to say a little bit about that?

I think that it has already started, to a great extent, has it not?

Good morning. I am pleased to join the committee today to speak to the draft Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2025, which will legislate to reform energy performance certificates.

The EPC system has formed a long-standing part of Scotland’s property market since 2008 and of retained European Union law across the United Kingdom. However, the Scottish Government has heard concerns from stakeholders such as the Climate Change Committee and consumer groups such as Which? that EPCs need to change and be of higher quality. I want them to be accurate, up to date and relevant, and to give consumers the information that they need on the journey to net zero and warmer, more energy-efficient homes.

We have consulted extensively over the past four years on EPC reform. Users have been at the centre of that, helping to design a new EPC that I believe is now fit for purpose. I will be glad to share that design with the committee after our session.

The draft regulations that I have introduced do three things. First, they retain the well-established and well-understood parts of the existing EPC system, namely the existing trigger points for when an EPC is required, the standardised assessment that is carried out by suitably skilled and accredited assessors and a public register of certificates.

Secondly, they introduce the new reforms that we believe are necessary: a redesigned certificate that has been shaped by user feedback; new ratings and a new property report to ensure that consumers have clear information on current and potential fabric performance, heating systems and costs; a reduced validity period from 10 to five years to ensure that consumers have more up-to-date information; and strengthened quality assurance for EPC assessors to safeguard consumers.

Finally, they protect the property market during the transition. By introducing the regulations a year before they come into force and including a further one-year transition period, we are supporting the market to adjust to the new regime. That will be underpinned by a clear communications and engagement campaign. Consumers will also benefit from an interactive interface for a more dynamic EPC and through the heat and energy efficiency technical suitability assessment.

That is what today’s reform regulations will do, but I should be clear that they do not mandate property owners to meet an energy efficiency standard. We have consulted separately on those matters, but decisions have yet to be taken.

By introducing the reformed EPC and the new rating systems as a first step, we are providing a foundation for our wider heat in buildings programme, giving certainty to all sectors on how we will measure energy performance and any future standards that might be linked to that. My officials and I will be glad to discuss that with the committee.

The home energy model is a foundational part of the proposed changes. I will point to a few things in answering your question. First, UK and Scottish officials have been working closely from its inception through to where we are now. We have complemented that with interministerial engagement. Most recently, in summer, I wrote to my counterpart in the UK Government, seeking assurances that the home energy model would be developed in time to coincide with the regulations coming into force—as we are seeking—next October.

I have no reason to suspect that there will be a delay. UK ministers are also publicly committed to the timeline. To be absolutely sure about that timeline and to acknowledge how important it is for the development of this work, we have agreed a memorandum of understanding with the UK Government that, should any delay emerge at its end, it will give us early sight of that. We should be able to consider mitigations then, if need be. However, as I say, at this point, I have no reason to believe that there will be a delay.

The other side of the auditing process involves the carrying out of local authorities’ enforcement obligations. Again, we are conscious of monitoring that. We are working on the extent to which local authorities are supported to understand their obligations and what is required of them. We are working with them on developing a toolkit to aid their understanding of their obligations as enforcement bodies and to help them to carry those out.

That is a really important part of getting the new system right, because the main reasons for change—other than that it will better reflect the actions that we want to see in properties in contemporary Scotland—are to make the system more readily understandable and navigable for consumers and to empower them by providing them with information. It has been important to us that the process should reflect how easily, or otherwise, users can interact with it.

Even the way in which we describe the ratings is becoming more intuitive. We now talk about “heat retention rating”, “heating systems rating” and “cost of energy rating”. All those terms have been developed in response to feedback from ordinary people who have tried to navigate the system. Those aspects ought to be intuitive. Likewise, the certificate itself has been designed so that it will be more navigable and understandable. All that is being done because we want to empower consumers.

I come back to two points. The first is the period during which the new system will be implemented, which we have chosen deliberately. It is a year until we start implementation, and then there will be a hybrid year in which both the old and the new systems can be worked. I stress our intention that the new system will be rolled out with a strong consumer engagement and communications plan. However, as I said, we should be starting from a better position, given that the new system has been designed to be more easily navigable.

I wonder whether Ross Loveridge might say a bit about the number of users with whom we have worked on developing the system. He could also address the interface point, because it is quite technical.

We are conscious that, whenever a change such as this one is made, it is seen as a fundamental change. However, I take a lot of comfort from the comparison with 2008-09, when there was a much more significant jump in the requirement to produce EPCs than what we expect now, and we have spread it over two years.

Again, reflecting on what I said earlier, I would say that the EPC is ultimately a neutral piece of work. We will have to watch much more closely to see how the regulated standards that come atop it change or impact the property market.

There is an updated process. I will swiftly hand over to the technical experts to speak to that.