Does a C-or-better EPC sell for more in SO20 6 (Test Valley)?
No measurable EPC premium here. In postcode sector SO20 6 (Test Valley), comparing like with like — same floor area, property type, build period and year of sale — the difference is +1.7% (95% range −4.4% to +8.2%): the EPC band itself is not reflected in sale prices here. The raw gap is bigger: C+ homes sold for 7% more per square metre than D–G homes (median £4,583 vs £4,276, 588 sales 2015–2026), mostly because they are different homes. Across England and Wales the like-for-like figure is +1.2%. Data: HM Land Registry Price Paid to 30 September 2026 matched to the EPC register.
From the raw gap to like-for-like
The homes are not alike: C+ homes here have a median floor area of 170 m² against 123 m² for D–G; the most common build period is 2012 onwards for C+ and before 1900 for D–G; 81% of C+ and 71% of D–G sales are detached or semi-detached houses.
| Comparing C+ with D–G homes… | Difference | 95% range |
|---|---|---|
| Raw gap per m² (medians) | +7% | — |
| Whole price, nothing held equal | +28.8% | +12.9% to +47.0% |
| Same floor area | +7.0% | +1.2% to +13.2% |
| + same property type | +10.1% | +4.4% to +16.1% |
| + same build period | +0.9% | −6.0% to +8.3% |
| + same year of sale | +1.7% | −4.4% to +8.2% |
The first row compares median prices per m²; the second compares whole prices; each later row adds one more thing that must be equal, ending with the like-for-like premium (regression of log price; build period from the certificate, 12 bands). The raw gap per m² and the whole-price gap differ because C+ and D–G homes differ in size.
Sold prices by EPC band in SO20 6
| EPC band (last certificate before sale) | Sales | Median £ per m² |
|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | too few |
| B | 26 | £5,023 |
| C | 56 | £4,379 |
| D | 221 | £4,231 |
| E | 199 | £4,418 |
| F | 67 | £4,276 |
| G | 18 | £4,162 |
A median is shown when a band has at least 10 sales.
C or better vs D–G, by property type
| Type | C+ sales | C+ £/m² | D–G sales | D–G £/m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | 46 | £4,843 | 262 | £4,458 |
| Semi-detached | 21 | £4,531 | 95 | £4,231 |
| Terraced | 10 | £4,479 | 109 | £4,235 |
| Flat / maisonette | 6 | — | 39 | £3,780 |
Compared with the wider area
| Area | Sales | Like-for-like | 95% range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sector SO20 6 | 588 | +1.7% | −4.4% to +8.2% |
| District SO20 | 991 | +0.8% | −4.8% to +6.7% |
| England and Wales | 1,000,000 (sample) | +1.2% | +0.9% to +1.5% |
588 of 707 house and flat sales in the sector since 2015 (83%) were matched to a certificate.
How this is calculated
- Every standard sale (HM Land Registry Price Paid, category A) since January 2015 is matched to the latest energy certificate of the same address (postcode + house number or name + flat) lodged from 10 years before to 3 months after the sale; sales with no certificate or an ambiguous match are left out. Across England and Wales 92% of sales match.
- Price per m² uses the certificate's total floor area (15–1,000 m²).
- Like-for-like premium: regression of the log of price on “C or better”, log floor area, property type, the certificate's build period and the year of sale. The 95% range shows how precise the estimate is; when it includes zero, the data cannot tell the premium apart from none.
Caveats
- The band is the one on the certificate before the sale; certificates are a median 0.8 years old at the sale, but a quarter are over 4 years old and some homes were improved since.
- Condition, garden, parking, views and the exact position within the sector are not known; a premium could hide in them, or they could hide one.
- Individual sales and addresses are not shown.