Straight ‘A’ Landlords
October 1, 2008 at 2:51 PM Lawrence Hall 2 comments
As of today, Energy Performance Certificates become mandatory for all new tenancies, and landlords will face charges of up to £200 per property if they don’t provide them.
The certificates, which will be valid for a period of ten years, must be issued by an accredited energy assessor, and provided free of charge to tenants.
EPCs rate a property’s energy efficiency using an A-G system of grading, with an ‘A’ rating being an all-singing, all-dancing top score and a ‘G’ being the equivalent of a ‘see me after class’ scrawled in red ink.
The certificates were introduced last year for homebuyers, and so far, the average rating has been a ‘could do better’ ‘D’.
While recommendations to improve a property’s efficiency rating are given as part of the EPC, landlords are under no obligation to carry out any improvements.
However, if tenants are faced with a choice of properties with different ratings, it seems likely that they’d opt for the more energy efficient one, as their fuel bills would be lower.
We’d be interested to know what you think about EPCs:
| Tenants: |
| [poll id="4"] |
| Landlords: |
| [poll id="5"] |
| [poll id="6"] |
Entry filed under: Renting & Letting. Tags: EPCs, Landlord, Rent.
2 Comments Add your own
Why not leave us a comment or share this with the buttons above?
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed
1.
NANCY NATHAN | December 24, 2008 at 2:16 AM
I am beginning to believe it is impossible to rent a small house/cottage not connected in any way (terraced, townhouse, semi-detached, apartment, flat, etc.) Anywhere outside London.
I live alone with my two dogs and I need “barking Room” for the neighbours.
I’d like to live semi-rurally (is that a word?) As in close enough to a town to get supplies and groceries. What should I do? Moving there permanently. Father was born in Liverpool.
2.
Sam Price | December 21, 2010 at 6:23 PM
In my experiences, 80% of the reccommendations suggested to my clients are discarded instantly due to the large costs. Which is a real shame.
I think it is sometimes the smaller things which can make a big difference, like for example I came accross this interesting fact about Low-E lighting.
“If every household in the UK installed three energy saving light bulbs, electricity equivalent to the output of a typical power station would be saved each year”
I mean, if that doesnt make you want to install low-e bulbs, I dont know what will.
We also have some more interesting facts about Energy & EPCs on our website, in the resources section.
Have a great christmas!
Sam @ Greenhouse Energy