I serviced and MOT’d my car last week, a fairly unremarkable event as the car got through without needing any extra work. I use a small back street garage close to my home and on the way to the station they give me good service and their prices seem keen.

When I checked the bill - they charge £48 an hour for labour and my service took 1.6 hours - which I make 1 hour 36 minutes or £76.80 and then that set me thinking. An EPC survey on a small flat would take about the same amount of time - with travel, inspection, photography and inputting data - so why does £75 for an EPC seem to be too expensive? My MOT was £53 and I need to have this every year - not once in 10 years.