Under the Green Deal, it has been announced that all rental properties will have to meet certain energy efficiency criteria from April 2016.
The new criteria was announced by Chris Huhne, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, who commented “Our proposals provide a voice for tenants living in poorly insulated, draughty homes. The Green Deal is a win-win opportunity for landlords by removing the upfront cost of work to upgrade the property making it cheaper to run, more environmentally friendly and ultimately more attractive to rent. For those landlords who don’t take up the Green Deal then we will get tough so that by 2018 the poorest performing rented housing stock is brought up to a decent standard.”
The new criteria will mean that landlords will not be able to refuse reasonable requests from tenants, or local authorities acting on behalf of tenants, to improve their property. It also means that it will be against the law to rent out a house or business premise which has less than an “E” energy efficiency rating.
This new regulation will affect at least 600,000 properties which currently fall behind the criteria set out by the Green Deal.
The good news is that, families will be able to apply for up to £10,000 each to pay for energy-efficiency improvements on their properties as part of the Government’s Energy Bill, which will support both homeowners and landlords to help improve energy efficiency with money to pay for new boilers, insulation and central-heating systems.
Enviro Estates has already brought energy efficiency to the forefront. Enviro Estates are the first eco-friendly estate agent in the UK, by promoting energy efficient homes. All properties marketed by Enviro Estates currently have an EPC rating of an “E” or below. All properties marketed by Enviro Estates, will therefore not be affected by the new Green Deal legislation, and tenants who either rent or purchase a property through Enviro Estates are already conscious and confident that they are buying or renting with the environment in mind. |