A limit on the total amount of greenhouse
gasses to be emitted by the UK between 2023 to 2027 has been proposed to
cut Britain's emissions by 50% from 1990 levels and highlighting the
Governments commitment to being the greenest ever government.
Latest EPC and energy news from Green Assess. Learn more about what’s happening in the energy and EPC related industries. Snippets of the latest energy news from the media and leading industry experts.
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
UK proposes Fourth Carbon Budget
Department of Energy and Climate Change - 17th May 2011
Today's proposal, set out by Energy and Climate Change
Secretary Chris Huhne, is in line with the advice from the independent
committee on Climate Change. It sets a fourth carbon budget of 1950
MtCO2e for the period that will span from 2023 to 2027, putting the UK
on course to cut emissions by at least 80" by 2050. The carbon budget
will place the British economy at the leading edge of a new global
industrial transformation and ensure low carbon energy security and
decarbonisation is achieved at least cost to the consumer.
Call for EPC's to be publicly available
Energy Saving Trust - 17th May 2011
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Huhne gets tough on landlords of draughty homes
Department of Energy and Climate Change - 10th May 2011
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.
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.
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.
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
Air Conditioning Inspection Reports must be lodged on national register
racplus.com - 3rd May 2011
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Revamped EPC to be launched
estateagenttoday.co.uk - 20th April 2011
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.
A revamped EPC is being worked by government advisers and is set to be implemented early next year.
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.
Monday, 11 April 2011
Green Makeovers improve appeal for tenants and cut costs
easier.com - 11th April 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Buildings 'should display energy ratings'
bdonline.co.uk - 30th March 2011
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.
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.
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.
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