Landlords in Yorkshire and Humberside are being encouraged to get their homes in order now if they want to get the full benefits from Government regulation widely known as the “Green Deal”.
The Energy Act 2011 stipulates that homes rented out to tenants will have to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) no lower than a grade E by the year 2018. It may seem a long way in the future for landlords new to the business, but the fact is all new homes, and any that are rented, or sold now need an EPC. It is a grading system that tells a prospective buyer or tenant how energy efficient the building is and has seven levels. An A rating meaning the home is very energy efficient, with a G rating meaning the very opposite.
Philip Overend, an accredited energy assessor and chartered surveyor, believes property investors should be preparing their homes to meet the standards required now and that they should be taking advantage of government grants that will help bring their investments up to standard. He said: “The forthcoming tightening of the current building regulations, along with new versions of more stringent EPC software (calculating the energy rating) will make it even harder for landlords to achieve the higher EPC bands. It’s not unknown for properties to drop one or two bands when their old rating is re-assessed by the new software, and a healthy proportion of commercial and residential property in Yorkshire and Humberside is already rated F and G. Consequently a growing proportion of homes and buildings in our region will be affected up to and beyond 2018.”
Landlords with property insurance on older properties may find they need to plan better than most. Often placed in conservation areas, older properties may need upgrades such as double glazing and central heating to achieve the required standards, but building conservation regulations may hinder such steps being taken. In this case landlords need to talk to planning officers sooner rather than later to resolve a situation that could threaten their livelihood.