EPC rating B: what it means
If your home has an EPC rating B, it earned somewhere between 81 and 91 SAP points. That puts it in the second highest band there is. SAP points come from an energy assessment of the property, and the more points a home gets, the more efficient it is. A brand new home in England and Wales will usually land in band B.
Check your home's EPC ratingOur EPC checker opens the free GOV.UK register search for any postcode.
- SAP points in band B
- 81 to 91
- of 2025 EPCs in England and Wales
- 12.5%
- median score of homes built after 2012
- 84
- can be let today and after the 2030 rule
- Yes
What the 2025 register shows
During 2025, the official register recorded 218,464 band B certificates for homes across England and Wales. That works out at 12.5% of all domestic EPC lodgements made that year. A lodgement just means a certificate has been filed on the register.
The number is slightly down on 2024, when it stood at 234,506.
Why do new builds usually get band B?
Current building standards leave their mark on the scores. The Office for National Statistics reports that the typical property completed after 2012 scored 84 SAP points at the median.
Half of these homes came in above that score and half below it, since the median is simply the middle value. At 84 points, that sits towards the bottom end of band B.
The picture keeps getting better for new homes. Looking at new dwellings in England, the median was 82 over the five years to March 2013. By the five years to March 2025, it had climbed to 84.
How can an older home reach band B?
Each EPC comes with recommended improvements, along with the rating you could achieve once each one is done. The government's landlord guidance has a sample certificate that demonstrates how this works.
In that sample, trading single glazing for double glazing came at a price of £3,300 to £6,500 and moved the home to C73. Solar panels came last on the list. They cost £5,000 to £8,000 and saved £287 a year, taking the home up to B83.
The figures on your own certificate will be for your home, so they could look quite different from this example.
What does band B mean when you sell or let?
An efficient home can fetch a slightly higher price from buyers. Research quoted in a government impact assessment found that properties rated B or C fetched 4.7% to 4.9% extra per square metre compared with D-rated ones.
Landlords holding a band B home are already ahead of the band C target that applies to all private tenancies by 2030. Under the government response, a home with an EPC of C or above before 1 October 2029 counts as compliant until that certificate runs out or gets replaced.
Buying a new build? You can check the certificate on the official register before committing.