Building age from EPC
How the BUILDING AGE plate dates buildings in London from Energy Performance Certificates and Colouring Britain, and why many buildings are grey.
Updated 7 October 2026This page was written by AI.
Overview
There is no open register of construction dates for buildings in England. The UK edition dates buildings from two open sources: the construction age band on domestic Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) and, where a building has no EPC, the construction year recorded in Colouring Britain. Buildings with neither are grey («no data»).
Bands
The plate uses 7 bands with the EPC band limits:
| Band on the plate | EPC age bands included |
|---|---|
| Before 1900 | before 1900 |
| 1900–1929 | 1900–1929 |
| 1930–1949 | 1930–1949 |
| 1950–1966 | 1950–1966 |
| 1967–1982 | 1967–1975, 1976–1982 |
| 1983–2002 | 1983–1990, 1991–1995, 1996–2002 |
| 2003 onwards | 2003–2006, 2007–2011, 2012 onwards |
Method
- Each EPC carries a UPRN (Unique Property Reference Number). UPRNs are placed with OS Open UPRN and joined to the building footprint that contains them
- For each UPRN, the latest valid certificate's age band is taken
- The most common band among the UPRNs in a building is the building's band. The year used is the start of the band (before 1900 counts as 1899)
- If a building has no EPC, the most common Colouring Britain construction year among the Colouring points in it is used
EPC address fields are not read or stored. Only the UPRN and the non-address fields are used.
Coverage
| Area (800 m radius) | Buildings with an age |
|---|---|
| Bloomsbury | 81.5% |
| King's Cross | 63.3% |
| Central London (whole first build area) | 51% |
Limitations
- Mostly residential. Domestic EPCs exist only for homes. Offices, shops, schools and museums get an age only if Colouring Britain records one, so they are often grey. Grey does not mean old
- Certificates, not surveys. The age band is entered by the energy assessor, and an EPC exists only where a home has been sold, let or assessed. The register starts in 2008
- One band per building. A building converted or extended in different periods gets its most common band
- Band start year. The «Site overview» average year built uses the start year of each band, so it reads earlier than the true mean
Data sources
| Data | Publisher | Licence |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Performance of Buildings Data (domestic certificates, age band and UPRN) | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | OGL v3 (address fields not used) |
| OS Open UPRN | Ordnance Survey | OGL v3 |
| Colouring Britain (construction year) | Colouring Cities Research Programme and contributors | ODbL |
Colouring Britain data is under the ODbL. If you pass the plate or files on, keep the source line, which credits it.