EPC Ratings in Dorset: How Many Homes Are Below Band C Before the 2030 Rule

EPC bands in Dorset, July 2025 to June 2026

49% below C (bands D to G) against 44% in the South West and 40% across England and Wales. Dorset ranks 57 of 318 local authorities for the share below C (1 = highest share). Since 2008, 164,733 EPCs have been lodged for existing homes in Dorset and 64% of them were below C — recent certificates run better than the long-run stock because newer and improved homes transact more. (Dorset was created by a council merger, so its cumulative figure only covers the new authority.)

Dorset splits fairly evenly. 51% of recent certificates are already C or better, 35% are one band short at D, and 14% are E, F or G. For a landlord that means the register is worth checking property by property: the same street can hold a certificate that needs nothing and one that needs two bands of work.

Is Dorset moving towards C?

Little movement year on year in Dorset: 51% of certificates were below C in July 2024 to June 2025 and 49% in July 2025 to June 2026 (−2.1 points; England and Wales −2.5 points). The area is 170th of 318 for the size of its year-on-year change, so the picture here is stable rather than shifting.

The homes certified here are larger than typical — an average of 102.4 m² against 87.1 m² across England and Wales — and insulation, glazing and heating measures scale with floor area, so a D-to-C job here tends to sit at the upper end of any national cost guide.

What the 2030 rule costs in Dorset

Privately rented homes need band C from 1 October 2030, with a £10,000 cap on what a landlord must spend before an exemption can be registered; the rules, exemptions and what counts towards the cap are on the EPC C for rentals by 2030 guide.

Put the £10,000 cap in local terms: average private rent in Dorset is £1,051 a month (ONS, July 2026), so the cap is roughly 9.5 months of rent — and every month a property stands empty for works costs another £1,051 on top of the bill. The area’s rents, prices and yields are on Dorset: rents, house prices and yield.

Council tax keeps running while a home is empty for works — Band D in Dorset is £2,765 for 2026/27, and the council adds a 100% premium once a home has stood empty for one year (council tax in Dorset). Whether the certificate and the works are deductible is on EPC, gas and electrical certificates: deductible? — revenue repairs come off the year’s rent, improvements that add capital value do not (allowable expenses guide).

Nearest neighbours in the ranking, in the South West

All 318 areas ranked · council tax in Dorset 2026/27 · rent, prices and yield in Dorset.

MHCLG, Live tables on Energy Performance of Buildings Certificates, table EB1 — domestic EPCs lodged for existing dwellings by energy-efficiency band, published 30 July 2026, latest four quarters (July 2025 to June 2026) summed per local authority; cumulative figures from 2008. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. An EPC is lodged when a home is sold, let or newly built, so these are certificates issued, not a census of the housing stock. Shares, ranks and regional figures are ours, computed across 318 local authorities. Download: CSV.