To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 19 December 2006, Official Report, column 1814W, on energy performance certificates, what the basis is for expecting the price of certificates to vary according to the location of a property. (114543)

The cost of an energy performance certificate is expected to vary according to the location of a property as this may influence things like local energy assessor labour rates and some areas may experience greater competition than others. The eventual price of an energy performance certificate will be set by the market and not by Government.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 19 December 2006, Official Report, column 1814W, on energy performance certificates, what estimate her Department has made of the (a) average cost, (b) minimum cost and (c) maximum cost of a certificate. (114544)

The statutory instrument to set out requirements for energy performance certificates is scheduled to be laid before Parliament in due course and the regulatory impact assessment to support this is in preparation. Contributing to this will be the outcome of trials undertaken to assess the indicative costs of producing certificates for a range of building types, sizes and locations. The eventual price of an energy performance certificate will be set by the market and not by Government.