EPC rating F: what it means
A home with an EPC rating F has a SAP score somewhere from 21 to 38, the second lowest band. A home rated F can't be let by most private landlords across England and Wales.
Check your home's EPC ratingOur EPC checker opens the free GOV.UK register search for any postcode.
- SAP points within band F
- 21 to 38
- Share of 2025 EPCs across England and Wales
- 1.2%
- What a landlord must spend, at most, to move F up to E
- £3,500
- Can't be let unless you register an exemption
- No
Can you let a home with an EPC rating F?
Usually not. The landlord rules cover domestic agricultural, regulated and assured tenancies where the home needs an EPC.
You must get the home up to E, or register an exemption, before any new tenancy begins. When a tenant already lives in the home, you must act at once.
Homes that those rules don't cover, for example ones with no legal EPC requirement, can still be let.
A spending cap of £3,500
There's no requirement to go beyond £3,500, including VAT, on energy improvements. Improvements carried out since 1 October 2017 count towards that total.
Should the home still fall short of E afterwards, you must register the 'all relevant improvements made' exemption. It covers 5 years, after which you must try again.
For the rule planned for 2030, the government response sets a higher £10,000 cap and a band C target.
Getting a home up from F to E
A band F home often needs the big jobs first. The sample EPC from the government shows room in roof insulation at £1,500 to £2,700, taking the home to E39.
On that list, wall insulation came next. It reached E45 and cost £4,000 to £14,000.
The £3,500 cap was therefore enough for that first step on its own. Look at the list on your own certificate, or request a new assessment through our assessor form.
Selling or buying a home in band F
The price can be pulled down by an EPC F rating. Research cited in the impact assessment found rented F and G homes caught by the band E rule lost about £5,000 to £9,000 in value.
A valid EPC is still needed before you can market the home. A certificate stays valid for 10 years.
How few homes have a rating of F
Homes in England and Wales received just 20,457 band F certificates in 2025. That works out at 1.2% of all EPCs lodged that year.
The impact assessment found about 2.7% of private rentals in England were still rated F or G in 2023, or roughly 132,000 homes.