News
LANDLORDS BEING FORCED TO GO GREEN
The Energy Bill received Royal Assent on the 18th October 2011 and became The Energy Act 2011.
We highly recommend that landlords take full advantage of the generous incentives currently being offered to make rental properties more energy efficient before they are withdrawn next year.
Shortly after the Coalition was formed David Cameron pledged that the administration would be the “greenest government ever”.
The Act is certainly intended to have a significant impact on the energy efficiency of both commercial and domestic buildings with the private rented sector having been singled out for treatment.
The main provisions of the Act are the introduction of the Green Deal and the creation of a new entity the Energy Company Obligation (ECO).
The Green Deal includes a new financing mechanism for improvements to the energy efficiency of household and non domestic properties, funded by a charge on energy bills that avoids the need for consumers and landlords to pay upfront costs.
The ECO will take over from the existing obligation to reduce carbon emissions in the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) which ends in 2012.
The ECO will work alongside the Green Deal to target households likely to need additional financial support – in particular those containing vulnerable people on low incomes and those living in hard to treat housing, including solid wall properties and those without a mains gas supply.
Eco funding will be available for both private rented and owner-occupied homes.
Requests for energy improvements.
For the private rented sector, the Act also includes provisions to ensure that no later than April 2016, private residential landlords will be unable to refuse a tenant’s reasonable request for energy efficiency improvements where funding is available either through the Green Deal or ECO.
The stated intention is that there will be no upfront cost to the landlord from the request as the cost of any works will either be paid back through the fuel bill by the tenant or through an ECO grant.
From no later than April 2018, it will be unlawful to rent out residential or business premises that do not reach a minimum energy efficiency standard. The intention is for this to be set at an Energy Performance Certificate rating of band “E”, impacting on approximately 19% of rented residential premises, affecting some 650,000 properties in the private rented sector.
For further information on current discounts and subsidies see www.energysavingtrust.org.uk
(From the Residential Property Investor)