Call for EPC's to be publicly available

Energy Saving Trust - 17th May 2011

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) should be made publicly available so that properties failing to meet energy efficiency standards can be easily identified, the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) has stated.

Commenting on the second reading of the Energy Bill, Ian Potter, operations manager or ARLA, made the proposals as there are around 500,000 properties in the private residential sector that fall into F and G ratings for energy performance.

However, he welcomed the decision by the government to give landlords until 2018 to make green home improvements as a practical one, as poor performing buildings account for 17 per cent of the market.

Mr Potter did stress concern that there is still little detail about how properties are to be made more efficient.

"So far, there is no clarity on how energy improvements will be assessed or enforced - or, importantly, how this assessment will be funded," he said.

Other proposals in the Bill include making it illegal for landlords to refuse reasonable requests from tenants to make their property more energy efficient from April 2016.

Huhne gets tough on landlords of draughty homes

Department of Energy and Climate Change - 10th May 2011

Energy and Climate Change secretary Chris Huhne has today announced plans to introduce regulations to ensure that all landlords would face minimum energy efficiency standards under the Green Deal Plan.

Under the proposals, announced at Second Reading of the Energy Bill:

From April 2016 landlords will not be able to refuse reasonable requests from tenants or local authorities acting on behalf of tenants, to improve their property;

From April 2018 the government will make it unlawful to rent out a house or business premise which has less than an "E" energy efficiency rating, ensuring at least 682,000 properties will have to be improved.

The Green Deal is the coalitions national plan of home improvements to make house and businesses cheaper to run through better energy efficiency, From next year people will be able to access finance to pay for the upfront cost of work which will be paid back through savins on lower fuel bills.

Air Conditioning Inspection Reports must be lodged on national register

racplus.com - 3rd May 2011

From 1 July 2011, all Air Conditioning Inspection Reports produced for systems in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will need to be lodged on the national register. All systems with an effective rated output over 12kW need to be inspected.

There are tens of thousands of air conditioning systems used in England Wales and Northern Ireland. The great majority are of more than 12kW rated output and they should all have been inspected by 5th January 2011 (or within 5 years if installed after 1st January 2008, and slightly different dates apply in Northern Ireland).

Yet some landlords and occupiers just aren't bothering with inspections. Inevitably some systems are using more energy than they need, without delivering effective cooling to the end users.

The introduction of mandatory lodgement is a good opportunity to make clients aware of this new requirement, reminding them that they have a duty to have systems inspected and encourage them to get on and do it. For those that think its a burden, not a benefit, then they might be interested in recent case studies which show how they can pay for themselves within months.

Revamped EPC to be launched

estateagenttoday.co.uk - 20th April 2011

A revamped EPC is being worked by government advisers and is set to be implemented early next year.

The revamp will follow a raft of changes due to implemented in two stages, on July 1 and October 1.
If the October 1 proposed change goes through, it should mean agents not having ti print forests of extra pages as had been feared.

The October 1 proposal is that the full EPC - not just the ratings - will have to be printed and attached to all particular. However, all the associated recommendations will not have to be attached. This would mean that agents would have to add one more double sided A4 page to their particulars.
There is likely to be one crucial change. Denis purshouse, senior civil servant at CLG who advises on housing matters, said that for the purpose of EPCs attached to property particulars, the address of the property will not be included.

Green Makeovers improve appeal for tenants and cut costs

easier.com - 11th April 2011

According to a recent poll the buy to let market has reaches record highs with 41 per cent of landlords planning to increase rents during the next 12 months. This is concerning news for many tenants who, as a result of the increased cos of living due to escalating fuel prices and the recent VAT rise, are already struggling to make their payments on time, pushing them into debt and leaving their landlords to pay the mortgage.

The Government has stated that it may introduce new regulations to force landlords to improve the energy efficient features is one of the simplest ways for a landlord to make a property more cost effective to run. The Landlords Energy Saving Allowance currently offers financial support in the form of a tax allowance up to the value of £1,500 to help support landlords that choose to implement energy saving measures.

Buildings 'should display energy ratings'

bdonline.co.uk - 30th March 2011

The UK Green Building Council has said all non-residential buildings should have their A-G energy rating on public buildings to encourage landlords to bring up to scratch those premises lagging behind.

The ratings would provide an at-a-glance indicator and detailed technical information on the energy performance of a building, it said. The council added that these display energy certificates should be used to produce a range of publicly accessible league tables based on occupiers, landlord, sectors, building types and uses.

Green Building Council chief executive Paul King said the rating system should be included in the Energy Bill currently going through parliament. "A to G ratings for commercial buildings will provide a reputational driver for both landlords and tenants to take energy use more seriously," he added.

He said aswell as displaying ratings, landlords should also be required to put up certificates showing energy efficiency of the services they provide.

EPC rules tighten

estateagenttoday.co.uk - 25th March 2011

New requirements are set to tighten up rules on Energy Performance Certificates imminently.

Communities and Local Government has issued no press briefings or other information, but has held meetings with EPC providers to discuss changes, which look set to including having a full EPC on all marketing, including the internet.

However, according to part of the presentation by CLG which we have seen, the changes are due to come into force 'from April / Jult 2011'. However, the document does not specify in what order the changes will apply or give actual dates.

The changes will include:

• An EPC must be either available or ordered before any property is marketed for sale or rent, and enforcement officers will have powers to check that the EPC has been commissioned;
• The full EPC, apparently as opposed to the summary graphs, must be provided when supplying property particulars;
• The 'responsible person' (usually the agent) must use 'reasonable efforts' to ensure that the EPC is available within seven days of the start of marketing, rather than the current 28 days; 
• The EPC must be attached to all proeprty particulars for marketing purposes;
• Finally, the changes make the agent liable to prosecution if the EPC rules are broken.