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Notice For Landlords

Article compiled by Derek Chant, Domestic Energy Assessor www.homeinspectorfordevon.co.uk 8/08/08

Don’t leave your tenants in the cold!

Many landlords are still not aware that, from October 1st 2008, if they have a new tenant for their property, they will have to provide an Energy Performance Certificate (E.P.C.)

Those people currently trying to sell their properties are already aware that an E.P.C. is provided as part of the Home Information Pack, but for rental properties, the good news is that certificates will be valid for 10 years.

This also coincides with some changes to the software used to calculate the energy rating and the environmental impact of CO2 emissions, introduced in September which will make the RdSAP rating more accurate.

Current reports are based on an A-G rating, with the national average only band E, indicating how poorly our homes generally are insulated and heated. The EPC will make various recommendations, on the basis of the rating, in order to improve the Energy efficiency and Environmental performance of the property.

This will include ways of improving the insulation, upgrading the heating and heating controls, improving the potential heat loss through walls and roofs and providing ways of reducing the energy use with renewable energy sources, leading to cheaper bills.

Why does this matter to landlords? With tenants having limited capability of influencing their energy usage, increasingly, they will ask to see the E.P.C. to ensure that the landlord has taken every possible measure to reduce the bills, which are otherwise going to continue to increase. It will also be in the interest of the Landlord to obtain a new E.P.C. if they make significant improvements to the energy performance, so as not to deter future potential tenants. With depletion of natural resources, spiralling energy costs and the difficult housing situation, it is in all our interests to do whatever we can to use the energy as efficiently as possible.