Rules and ethics
Scotland or England: the law behind EPC and Home Report posts
Real estate influencers in Scotland and England need the right statute, register and penalty for an EPC or Home Report post. Here is the legal map.
What to take away
- Real estate influencers who post about a Scottish or English home meet two different sets of law: the Home Report rules in Scotland and the EPC rules in England and Wales.
- The Scottish Home Report includes the EPC. The English EPC stands alone, with no survey or property questionnaire.
- Enforcement differsa Scottish local authority can issue a £500 penalty charge for a missing Home Report, and trading standards a £200 fixed penalty for a missing domestic EPC in England and Wales.
- Do not assume a Scottish EPC will satisfy an English listing, or the reverse.
- Check the current certificate on the relevant register before publishing any rating.
Which statute sits behind which document
Scotland and England regulate property information through different instruments, so a creator needs the right statute for the right side of the border. The table sets the Scottish duties against those for England and Wales, and the sections after it explain each row.
| Question | Scotland | England and Wales |
|---|---|---|
| Main document | Home Report: a single survey, an energy report and a property questionnaire | EPC alone, with no survey or property questionnaire |
| Duty comes from | Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 and the Home Report (Scotland) Regulations 2008 | Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 |
| EPC rules | Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2008, as amended | Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 |
| Where the EPC sits | Inside the Home Report's energy report | Lodged on its own register, and the listing must show the rating |
| Public register | The Scottish EPC register | The EPC Register for England and Wales |
| Penalty for a missing document | Local authority penalty charge of £500 for a missing Home Report | Trading standards fixed penalty of £200 for a missing domestic EPC |
| Timing | Available before the property is advertised | Commissioned before marketing, with the certificate able to follow within seven days in some cases |
The table is a starting point, not legal advice. Check the current rules before publishing a listing breakdown.
Why the two regimes diverged
Devolution explains the split. The Scotland Act 1998 devolved housing and energy performance to the Scottish Parliament, which is why the two systems diverged and why a Scottish rule cannot be assumed to apply in England.
In Scotland, anyone selling a home must provide a Home Report to a prospective buyer who asks for it. That duty comes from the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 and is supported by the Home Report (Scotland) Regulations 2008. The report contains a single survey, an energy report and a property questionnaire, and the energy report includes the EPC.
Home Report vs EPC Register
Scotland Home Report
- Timing
- Before marketing
- Contents
- Survey, energy, questionnaire
- Creator use
- Publish survey and EPC
England EPC Register
- Timing
- Before marketing
- Contents
- EPC only
- Creator use
- Look up rating
The Home Report is also a pre-marketing document, available before the property is advertised. A creator filming a walkthrough in Glasgow can therefore show the EPC rating and the survey findings without waiting for a buyer to request them.
EPC rules, instrument by instrument
EPC rules in Scotland are set by the Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2008, as amended. The Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2012 updated the requirements, covering when an EPC is needed, what it must contain and how it is lodged.
In England and Wales, the equivalent rules sit in the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012. The Building Regulations &c. (Amendment) Regulations 2012 made changes to EPC requirements for buildings in England and Wales. The two sets of rules are similar in outline but not identical in detail.
The English register is a look-up tool. In England and Wales an EPC must be commissioned before a property is marketed, the certificate is lodged on the register and the listing must show the rating. You can check a rating there, but you cannot pull a full pre-offer pack from it.
The Scottish instruments named here are the Home Report (Scotland) Regulations 2008 and the Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2012. The Acts are the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 and the Scotland Act 1998, which underpin the separate Scottish regime.
What the penalties mean for a creator
Enforcement differs on each side of the border. A Scottish local authority can issue a penalty charge of £500 for a missing Home Report, while in England and Wales trading standards can issue a fixed penalty of £200 for a missing domestic EPC.
A creator who ignores either set of rules risks more than a takedown request. The advertising rules in England and the rules and compliance guide cover how these duties sit alongside estate-agency and wider marketing law.
The market entry checklist covers how creators can slip into agency-style claims without the right registration. That risk is higher when Scottish and English listing formats mix in one feed, so treat the two regimes as separate duties with separate penalties.
What each regime lets a creator publish
Each regime gives a creator something lawful to quote and something it blocks. The table sets the two side by side so that a script can be checked against the right document before it is filmed.
| Regime | You can publish | What it blocks |
|---|---|---|
| Scottish Home Report | The single survey condition rating, the EPC band and the property questionnaire answers | Selective quoting: showing the EPC band but hiding a poor survey rating risks misleading buyers |
| English EPC register | The rating and the recommendation report, including running costs and suggested improvements | Implying that the EPC is a survey, which it is not |
Duty, source and creator impact
Duty
- Home Report
- Housing Act 2006
- EPC England
- EPC Regulations 2012
- Offers over
- Scottish convention
- Asking price
- English convention
Source
- Home Report
- Publish survey and EPC
- EPC England
- Show rating, not survey
- Offers over
- Avoid fixed price
- Asking price
- Quote as target
Creator impact
- Home Report
- EPC England
- Offers over
- Asking price
The Home Report is a single document, and quoting part of it without context can breach consumer protection rules. Saying that an English EPC is a survey could mislead viewers. The ASA rules for estate agent influencers apply on top of both.
A creator with a large English audience may be tempted to treat the Home Report as a bonus document. For Scottish viewers it is the starting point, and getting that the wrong way round misleads the audience.
Check the register before you publish
Check the document set and the register for the market you are filming in before anything goes live. A short routine keeps a cross-border feed accurate, and it can be written into the brief or a creator contract.
- Name the marketScotland, or England and Wales.
- Find the document set that market requiresa Home Report with its EPC in Scotland, an EPC alone in England and Wales.
- Check the current certificate on the relevant register before publishing the rating.
- Quote the EPC band together with any material survey finding.
- Say plainly which document each figure comes from.
For anyone building a cross-border content plan, the safe approach is to treat the two regimes as separate. A Scottish EPC does not stand in for an English one, and an English EPC is not a Home Report.
The same flat in Glasgow and in Manchester
The same two-bedroom flat produces different evidence in each city. In Glasgow the Home Report supplies a survey, an EPC and a property questionnaire. In Manchester the seller commissions an EPC before marketing, and there is no Home Report.
In Glasgow the EPC might be band C, with recommendations for low energy lighting and a condensing boiler, and the survey might note minor damp. A creator can show the EPC band and the survey finding in the same video and name the Home Report as the source.
In Manchester the EPC might be band D, with recommendations to increase loft insulation and fit a condensing boiler. A creator can show the EPC rating, but there is no survey to quote. In Glasgow the Home Report is the spine of the video. In Manchester the EPC is a single data point.
Timing differs as well. In England the EPC must be commissioned before marketing, but the certificate can follow within seven days in some cases, so a listing can go live with an EPC pending. A Scottish listing cannot go live without its Home Report.
Common questions
Do I need to show the full Home Report in a video?
You do not have to show every page, but you must not mislead. If you quote the EPC band, you should also mention any material survey findings.
Which penalty applies to a missing document?
In Scotland a local authority can issue a penalty charge of £500 for a missing Home Report. In England and Wales trading standards can issue a fixed penalty of £200 for a missing domestic EPC.
What happens if I publish an EPC rating that is out of date?
You could mislead viewers. Always check the current certificate on the relevant register before you publish the rating.
Can one video cover both Glasgow and Manchester?
You can, but you must explain the different document sets. A single script that ignores the Home Report will be wrong for Scottish viewers.
Where can I check the rules for myself?
The Scottish and English regulations are on Legislation.gov.uk. Start with the 2012 amendments for EPC duties, then check the Home Report regulations for Scotland.
