E is the lowest band a house in England and Wales can still be let without an exemption, and that is its whole point. For sale it means a small discount against a typical D-rated house, noticeably smaller than a simple comparison of medians suggests. On energy the picture is the opposite of what you would expect: an E certificate promises huge gas consumption, yet meters in postcodes full of such houses show less than half of it. The main risk for the owner of a band E house therefore lies outside price: a new certificate could drop the house one band lower.
Contents
↓ Band E by property type↓ Band E by region
Letting a band E house: the line falls here
The Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) bans letting private rented property in England and Wales below band E unless there is a valid exemption. That is what the GOV.UK guidance for landlords, updated on 5 May 2026, says. A band E house clears this line by a whisker. If the next certificate shows F, the landlord will have to either improve the house or register an exemption in the PRS Exemptions Register, and such an exemption usually lasts 5 years. What happens next and what it costs is set out on the band F page.
There is also a longer horizon. The government aims to bring as much rented housing as possible up to band C by 2030; that is not yet a legal requirement, but among the bands you can currently let, E is the furthest from that goal. Check letting rules against the GOV.UK guidance; this site's assessment does not replace it.
How much cheaper a band E house sells for
From January 2015 to September 2026, band E applied to 1,188,941 sold houses, which is 13.1% of all sales with a certificate (HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, EPC register as at November 2026). The median per m² for E is 6% below D, but part of that gap comes from different house types and ages. Like for like on floor area, type, build period and year of sale, the discount narrows to −2.8%, with a 95% range from −3.1% to −2.4%. A narrow range means the discount is stable. How much closer to the market houses higher up the scale sit is shown on the band D page and the band C page, and the whole scale is gathered in the comparison of bands A to G.
Gas: the lower the band, the further the certificate strays from the meter
There are no pound figures in the data, and the “monthly cost” from the certificate cannot be worked out: it gives kilowatt-hours of primary energy together with lighting, so it is an upper estimate. For a gas-heated band E house that is 34,614 kWh a year at the median. According to DESNZ meter data for 2024, in postcodes where such houses predominate, about 41% of that figure was actually used. Comparison with neighbouring bands shows the pattern:
| Band | Gas per certificate, kWh a year | Metered gas, share of certificate |
|---|---|---|
| C | 11,141 | about 70% |
| D | 19,726 | about 57% |
| E | 34,614 | about 41% |
The lower the band, the more the certificate overstates consumption compared with the meter. For an older band E house the certificate's calculation is therefore a poor guide to a heating budget; past bills are more accurate.
What you need to know about band E
E appears in 13.1% of sales with a certificate in England and Wales since 2015. It is the minimum for letting under MEES: if the rating drops to F, letting is possible only after improvements or with an exemption, which usually lasts 5 years. When sold, a band E house is 2.8% cheaper than a band D house like for like (from −3.1% to −2.4%). On gas, meters show about 41% of the certificate's 34,614 kWh, and the gap at E is wider than at C and D.