Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of extending Energy Performance Certificate regulations to SMEs in the self-catering sector in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) considers that the impact of extending Energy Performance Certificate regulations to SMEs in the self-catering sector in the Surrey Heath constituency is low, and no different to other constituencies which fall into scope of these requirements. We expect that, if we change government policy to require short term lets to have an EPC at the point of being let that costs to businesses will be low. The cost of obtaining a domestic EPC is around £70 and they are valid for 10 years. We recently consulted on policy changes. We are considering the feedback received, and our response will be published in due course.