Energy Performance Certificates in Westminster

Common property types

• Georgian Townhouses on Lord North Street: Lord North Street is a grade II* listed street of early 18th-century terraced houses, regarded as one of the finest intact Georgian residential streets in London. Solid brick construction, original panelled interiors and period sash windows are characteristic. These properties require careful RDSAP assessment to reflect both current performance and the strict constraints on improvement measures.
• Victorian and Edwardian Mansion Flats near Smith Square: The mansion blocks around Smith Square and Dean Stanley Street date from the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. Solid brick construction with shared communal areas, these buildings contain flats of varying sizes that typically achieve D ratings, often with scope for improvement through boiler upgrades or secondary glazing.
• Modern Residential Development on Marsham Street: The Marsham Street area has seen significant new residential development, with purpose-built apartment blocks featuring contemporary insulation standards, double glazing and modern heating systems. These properties typically achieve B or C ratings and are straightforward to assess.
• Post-War Housing Estates between Victoria and the Embankment: Several post-war estates including blocks off Horseferry Road and Rochester Row provide social and private rented housing in the Westminster area. Constructed with cavity brick or concrete frame construction from the 1950s to 1970s, these blocks vary in insulation quality and are often the subject of whole-estate EPC programmes.

Typical EPC issues we find in Westminster

• Grade I and II* Listed Buildings: Lord North Street and parts of the Smith Square conservation area contain properties listed at grade I or grade II*, the highest levels of protection. Improvement measures such as external insulation or double glazing require listed building consent, and assessors annotate the certificate with these constraints where relevant.
• Parliamentary Estate Boundary Complications: Some properties on the northern fringe of the Westminster residential area adjoin the Parliamentary Estate, which affects access and occasionally creates uncertainty about the residential boundary of individual units. Assessors work from the property's registered address and land title where these questions arise.
• Post-War Concrete Construction: Blocks built using large-panel system or in-situ concrete construction from the 1960s and 1970s present specific assessment challenges, particularly around the identification of insulation applied during refurbishment. Assessors check for external cladding upgrades and record any recent improvement works that affect the thermal envelope.
• Air Quality and Ventilation in Dense Urban Context: Westminster's high density and traffic levels mean that mechanical ventilation with heat recovery is increasingly common in new residential buildings. Correctly recording ventilation type in RDSAP is important as it affects both the energy demand and the indoor air quality recommendations on the certificate.