The Government Department of Energy and Climate change statistics show that:
“Nearly one in ten properties fall below an “E” EPC rating in the domestic sector in England”.
As from the 1st April 2018 there will be a requirement for any properties rented out in the private rented sector to have a minimum energy performance rating of E39 on an Energy EPC. The regulations will come into force for new lets and renewals of tenancies with effect from 1st April 2018 and for all existing tenancies on 1st April 2020. It will be unlawful to rent a property which breaches the requirement for a minimum E rating, unless there is an applicable exemption. A civil penalty of up to £4,000 will be imposed for breaches.
This coincides with the original EPC certification which began in 2007. It will now be necessary to renew EPCs as they only last for 10 years.
What have Barbers done to help Landlords?
We decided that as a Letting Agent, Barbers needed to be well informed to assist. Our Head of Property Management, Carol Dakin, has recently qualified as a City and Guilds Level 3 Domestic Energy Assessor this qualifies her to undertake the inspections, assessments and certification.
Carol learned that many of the properties which will now fall under the required limit can be improved or re-certified without great expense. If work is required, ‘Green Deals’ are available to property owners. Our aim is to achieve is a more economical way of addressing the renewals/upgrades for landlords.
The regulations have changed regarding the data gathering and it may be easier to raise the rating value than you may think. For example, the previous assessment may not have had access to the loft as it was deemed more acceptable to state ‘no access’. Now, if there are 200cm of insulation in the loft that were not previously included, Barbers can add this to a new report and it may be sufficient to make your property compliant without any further expense.
Rather than using a freelance assessor, we want to work with landlords to reduce the costs of having one assessment and then needing another done following the work to raise the rating.
For further information please email Carol - c.dakin@barbers-online.co.uk
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