Funding and improving your EPC rating
The honest version most sites won't give you: there is no grant for a commercial EPC itself. It is a paid professional service. But the improvements an EPC recommends can attract funding, and that is where the real money question sits.
First, the EPC itself is not fundable
A commercial EPC is a cost of doing business, not a fundable measure. It is a professional assessment produced by an accredited Non-Domestic Energy Assessor and lodged on the national register, and there is no public grant that pays for it. The value in the certificate is compliance and enabling the transaction: it is what lets you lawfully sell or let the building, and what tells you where you stand for MEES.
Where funding does come in is the second half of the story. When an EPC comes back weak, its report lists the improvements that would lift the rating, and several of those improvements can be part-funded or tax-advantaged. That is what this page covers, honestly, including where a scheme does not apply to ordinary commercial premises.
Funding routes for the improvements an EPC recommends
The commercial EPC itself (paid service, no grant)
There is no grant or public funding for the EPC assessment itself, it is a professional service you pay for, produced by an accredited Non-Domestic Energy Assessor and lodged on the national register.
- Value
- Typically £120 to £1,200+ depending on floor area, assessment level (SBEM Level 3/4 or DSM Level 5) and building complexity.
Be honest with clients: the certificate is a cost of doing business, not a fundable measure. Where grants exist, they are for the energy-efficiency IMPROVEMENTS an EPC recommends, not for the certificate. The value in the EPC is compliance and enabling the transaction.
0% VAT on qualifying energy-saving materials
A zero rate of VAT applies to the installation of qualifying energy-saving materials (insulation, heat pumps, solar panels, battery storage, heating controls and more) in Great Britain from 1 May 2023 until 31 March 2027, after which it reverts to the 5% reduced rate.
- Value
- 0% VAT on qualifying installs until 31 March 2027 (then 5%).
Important caveat to state honestly: the relief is targeted at residential accommodation and qualifying charitable buildings, so it does not blanket-cover ordinary commercial premises. It is relevant to mixed-use owners (the residential element) and to charity-occupied buildings, and worth flagging when an EPC recommends measures like insulation or a heat pump. Confirm scope on the gov.uk notice before relying on it for any specific building.
Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS)
Grant support toward replacing fossil-fuel heating with a heat pump for eligible small non-domestic and domestic properties in England and Wales. Where an EPC recommends low-carbon heating, BUS can help fund the measure (not the EPC).
- Value
- Grant toward an air source or ground source heat pump install; amounts and eligibility set by the scheme, install must be by an MCS-certified installer.
Funds an IMPROVEMENT an EPC might recommend, not the certificate. Most relevant to smaller commercial and mixed-use buildings on oil, LPG or old gas heating where a heat pump both cuts running costs and lifts the rating. Confirm current eligibility and grant value on gov.uk, as scheme terms change.
Commercial energy-efficiency finance and lender green loans
There is no single national grant for commercial energy-efficiency works, but many businesses fund EPC-driven improvements through commercial energy-efficiency loans, asset finance, or lender 'green' loan products, and some local authorities and LEP successor bodies run periodic decarbonisation grants.
- Value
- Varies by lender and scheme; typically repayment finance rather than free money.
Frame this honestly for business owners: improving a commercial EPC is usually a self-funded or financed capital project, occasionally grant-assisted at local level. Check current local-authority and combined-authority schemes for the property's area, as availability is patchy and time-limited.
PRS Exemptions Register (the compliance backstop)
Where a non-domestic property genuinely cannot be improved to the minimum standard cost-effectively (for example all relevant improvements have been made and it remains sub-E, required third-party consent is refused, or improvements would devalue the property), the landlord can register a valid exemption rather than carry out further work.
- Value
- No cost saving as such, it is a legal shield, not funding. Exemptions must be evidenced and are time-limited (typically five years) before you must try again.
This is the 'backstop', not a planning strategy. It lets a genuinely unimprovable building be let lawfully while sub-standard, but it must be properly evidenced and registered. For most buildings a modest improvement package is cheaper and lower-risk than relying on repeated exemptions.
Improvements before exemptions
The PRS Exemptions Register is a backstop, not a plan. It lets a genuinely unimprovable building be let lawfully while sub-standard, but it must be evidenced and is time-limited, typically five years, before you must try again. For most buildings a modest improvement package, LED lighting with controls, better heating controls, insulation where practical, is cheaper and lower-risk than relying on repeated exemptions. The EPC's own ranked recommendation list is the starting point, and we can explain which measures give the biggest rating gain for the least spend.
None of this changes the certificate itself: whatever improvements you fund, you still need an accurate, lodged EPC to evidence the result. If your building has come back below E, or you are planning ahead for the proposed EPC B by 2031 standard on buildings over 1,000 sqm, start with the assessment and the recommendation list.