The Scottish Government’s plan for new Environmental Performance Certificates (EPCs) may, in some types of property, be impossible to achieve.

That’s according to Scottish property portal ESPC, which called for exemptions for certain types of property to the ban on direct emissions heating systems.

In the current system of EPCs, the most prominent metric is the Energy Efficiency Rating (EER) for the dwelling. This provides a banded rating from A (the most efficient) to G (the least efficient) and a one to 100 rating based on the cost to run the dwelling; normalised to the floor area.

The Scottish Government intends to change that, creating three new headline metrics for EPCs: a fabric rating, cost rating and a heating system type.

Following the proposed changes to EPCs, the government also intends to bring in a wider Heat in Buildings Bill, which would require all homes to meet a minimum fabric energy efficiency standard equivalent to EPC rating C by 2033 and to prohibit the use of direct emissions heating systems – like gas boilers – in domestic and non-domestic buildings by 2045.

For context, there are 2,610 properties currently for sale on ESPC’s website. Of those, only 1,192 – or 46% – currently have an EPC rating of C or better.

For many properties and householders achieving this rating or better will be difficult for both logistical and financial reasons.

The ESPC has therefore proposed the possibility for exemptions from the ban on direct emissions heating systems for certain types of buildings – for example some tenement flats and some properties in conservation areas or heritage sites.