It's 11:23am on a Thursday. You're trying to advertise a new property on Rightmove, but you need the EPC certificate first. You email the landlord. No response. You call. Voicemail. You check your files—nothing. You search your emails—can't find it. Meanwhile, the property sits un-advertised, costing the landlord money and costing you a potential let.
This happens dozens of times per week at most agencies. Landlords lose EPC certificates. They email the wrong version. They forget to renew expired ones. You spend hours chasing documents that should be instantly available.
This week, we solved this problem in LetAdmin. The system now retrieves EPC certificates directly from the UK Government's official database in seconds. Type in a postcode, see all registered certificates, import the data with one click. No more chasing landlords, no more missing compliance documents, no more delays listing properties.
The Problem: Every Agency Wastes Hours Chasing EPC Certificates
Every rental property in the UK must have a valid EPC certificate. Properties rated F or G cannot be legally let. Certificates expire after 10 years. Missing or expired EPCs mean you can't advertise properties on Rightmove, can't sign tenancy agreements, and risk fines of up to £5,000 per property.
But here's the reality at most agencies:
Problem 1: Landlords Lose the Certificates
You onboard a new property. "Do you have the EPC certificate?" Landlord: "Yes, I'll email it over." Three days later: nothing. You chase. "Oh, I can't find it. I'll have to get a new one done." That's £80-120 for a new assessment when the certificate already exists in the government database.
Problem 2: You Have the Wrong Version
Landlord emails you a certificate from 2015. It expired in 2024. You don't notice until you're trying to advertise the property and Rightmove rejects it. Now you're scrambling to get a new one, the property isn't advertised, and you've lost a week.
Problem 3: You Can't Find What You Filed
You know you have the EPC somewhere. It's in a filing cabinet. Or an email from 2019. Or a PDF buried in a folder called "Documents (3)." You spend 20 minutes searching for a document that should be instantly accessible.
Problem 4: Properties Get Advertised With Expired or Missing EPCs
Rightmove requires EPC ratings on all listings. Without them, your ads look incomplete. Worse, if you accidentally list a property with an F or G rating (illegal to let), you risk compliance issues and wasted advertising spend.
The result? Most agencies spend 1-2 hours per week chasing EPC documents. For a 100-property portfolio, that's 80-100 hours per year just managing compliance paperwork.
How LetAdmin Solves This: Instant Government Database Lookup
The UK Government maintains a central database of all EPC certificates ever issued. Every certificate going back to 2007 is searchable by postcode. The data is authoritative, free, and accessible through a public API—but most property management systems don't bother integrating with it.
We built direct integration. Here's how it works:
Step 1: Search by Postcode (Takes 3 Seconds)
Open any property in LetAdmin and click "Add EPC Certificate." Enter the postcode. LetAdmin searches the government database and returns all certificates registered at that address.
For a single house, you'll see 1-2 certificates (current and possibly an old expired one). For a block of flats, you'll see multiple certificates (one for each flat). The system shows you:
- Property address (as registered with government)
- Current EPC rating (A through G)
- Certificate issue date
- Certificate expiry date (10 years from issue)
- Current vs potential rating (what the property could achieve with improvements)
Step 2: Select the Right Certificate (1 Click)
Click the certificate that matches your property. LetAdmin automatically imports:
- Current energy rating (A-G)
- Potential rating (with improvements)
- Energy efficiency score (1-100)
- Environmental impact score (CO₂ emissions)
- Issue date and expiry date
- Certificate number
- Direct link to the official government PDF
All this data is stored in LetAdmin and syncs to Rightmove automatically when you advertise the property.
Step 3: What If the Property Isn't in the Database?
Some properties don't have government EPC records yet:
- Brand new builds (assessment not yet done)
- Recent major renovations (new certificate needed)
- Very old properties (pre-2007 certificates not digitized)
For these cases, you can manually upload the EPC certificate PDF and enter the key details. LetAdmin will still track expiry dates, sync to Rightmove, and warn you about compliance issues—you just don't get the instant lookup benefit.
What This Means for Your Agency: Real Time Savings
Let's do the math on time saved:
Before LetAdmin (typical agency with 100 properties):
- Average time to track down one EPC: 15-30 minutes
- New properties onboarded per month: 5-10
- EPCs expiring per month: 1-2
- Total time per month chasing EPCs: 3-6 hours
- Annual time: 36-72 hours (nearly 2 full working weeks)
With LetAdmin:
- Time to retrieve EPC from government database: 30 seconds
- Time to manually upload missing EPC: 2 minutes
- Total time per month: 15-30 minutes
- Annual time saved: 33-68 hours (1.5 weeks of your life back)
That's time you're not chasing landlords, not searching filing cabinets, not scrambling before listings go live.
Automatic Compliance Tracking: Never Miss an Expiry Again
Once EPC data is in LetAdmin, the system actively monitors compliance:
Expiry Warnings (6 Months in Advance)
EPCs expire after 10 years. Most agencies don't track this systematically—they only discover expired certificates when trying to advertise properties or during tenancy renewals.
LetAdmin warns you 6 months before any certificate expires:
- Dashboard alert: "3 properties have EPCs expiring within 6 months"
- Property page warning: "EPC expires on 15 March 2026 - arrange renewal now"
- Prevents advertising: Can't list properties with expired EPCs on Rightmove
This gives you plenty of time to arrange assessments without last-minute panic.
F/G Rating Alerts (Legal Compliance)
It's illegal to let properties rated F or G. Fines up to £5,000 per property. Yet agencies sometimes miss this—especially when taking on new landlords with existing tenancies.
LetAdmin flags F/G-rated properties immediately:
- Red warning on property dashboard
- Blocks advertising: Can't list on Rightmove (prevents legal risk)
- Landlord notification: "This property needs energy efficiency improvements before it can be re-let"
You'll never accidentally advertise an un-lettable property.
Automatic Rightmove Sync
When you import an EPC certificate, LetAdmin automatically sends the data to Rightmove:
- Current energy rating (A-G)
- Energy efficiency score
- Environmental impact rating
- EPC graph image (see next article for how this works)
This happens in the background. You don't manually update portal listings—the system keeps everything in sync.
Real-World Example: Onboarding a New Property
Before LetAdmin:
- Ask landlord for EPC certificate (Day 1)
- Chase landlord (Day 3)
- Chase again (Day 7)
- Landlord sends expired certificate (Day 9)
- Explain certificate is expired, need new assessment (Day 10)
- Wait for assessor appointment (Days 11-18)
- Receive new certificate (Day 21)
- Manually enter data into system
- Upload to Rightmove
- Time to advertise: 3 weeks
With LetAdmin:
- Enter property postcode
- Search government database (3 seconds)
- Import current certificate (1 click)
- Data syncs to Rightmove automatically
- Time to advertise: 30 seconds
If the certificate is missing or expired, you know immediately (not 3 weeks later), so you can arrange an assessment before onboarding delays occur.
What About Properties Not in the Government Database?
New builds, recent renovations, or very old properties might not have digitized government records. For these cases, you can manually upload the EPC PDF and enter:
- Certificate number
- Current rating
- Energy efficiency score
- Issue date (system calculates expiry automatically)
Takes 2 minutes instead of 30 seconds, but you still get automatic expiry tracking, compliance warnings, and Rightmove sync.
Why This Matters for Letting Agents
EPC management isn't glamorous. Nobody gets excited about compliance paperwork. But poor EPC management costs agencies time and money:
- Properties sit un-advertised waiting for certificates
- Landlords pay for unnecessary duplicate assessments
- Compliance violations risk fines
- Portal listings look incomplete without energy ratings
- Staff waste hours chasing documents
LetAdmin solves this by making EPC management invisible. You never think about it—certificates are always accessible, expiry dates are tracked automatically, compliance is enforced by the system, and portal data stays current.
Boring problems deserve automatic solutions. That's exactly what this feature provides.
We'd Love to Hear from You
How much time does your agency spend managing EPC certificates? Be honest—most agencies underestimate this until they track it.
Have you ever had a property sit un-advertised because you couldn't track down the EPC? It happens more than agents like to admit.
Would instant government database lookup change how you onboard new properties? We think it makes the entire process faster and less frustrating.
Get in touch: paul@letadmin.com
LetAdmin is in active development, built by letting agents for letting agents. This EPC lookup system is being used at Phillip James (370+ properties) and refined based on real-world usage. If you're interested in seeing how it works or want to join the priority list, we'd love to hear from you.