Under the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES), from the 1st April 2018, a Landlord must have an EPC rating of E or above to let a property, to new tenants, or renew existing tenancy agreements. In addition from 1st April 2020 a landlord will be unable to continue to let a property ( on an existing tenancy agreement), where the EPC is an F or a G.
A landlord of F or G rated property will be expected to install all energy efficient improvements, required to reach an E rating, where funding is available to cover the cost, and further improvements can be made.
ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATE's EXPLAINED
- An Energy Performace Certificate, or EPC for short, gives a property an energy efficiency rating from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient) and is valid for 10 years.
- They are needed whenever a property is built, sold or rented.
- It contains information about a property’s energy use and typical energy costs as well as recommendations about how to reduce energy use and save money.
THE EPC RATING FOR YOUR PROPERTY
To view the current EPC for your property please visit: www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate and enter the property postcode.
Those Landlords affected by these regulations may wish to commission an up to date EPC and seek the advice of a qualified energy performance assessor to recommend appropriate improvements.
AMENDMENTS TO LEGISLATION
The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 have passed through Parliament and came into force on 1 April 2019.
The amended rules make changes to the Energy Efficiency (Private Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 and apply to private rented properties in England and Wales.
The UK Government initially thought that the landlord contribution would be capped at £2,500, based on its estimated average cost per property at £1,200 needed to raise the energy efficiency (EPC rating) of an F or G rated property to E. The amendment means that landlords will now be required to pay up to £3,500.
The main changes the amendment brings are:
- Under the new rules landlords will be expected to contribute up to £3,500 (including VAT) per property to raise its EPC rating to a minimum of E.
- From 1 April 2019 the “no cost to the landlord” exemption will no longer be available and will no longer appear on the PRS Exemptions Register and existing properties will be removed from the PRS Exemptions Register after 31 March 2020. All affected landlords will be contacted at the beginning of April.
- When the cost to achieve an EPC E exceeds £3,500, landlords can register a ‘high-cost’ exemption on the PRS Exemptions Register. This is providing they submit three separate quotes from different installers.
- Where improvements have been made since 1 October 2017 up until 31 March 2019, these costs can be deducted from the £3,500 cap to determine the value of any further improvements to be made.
- The ‘consent exemption’ will also no longer be available where a sitting tenant has refused a Green Deal finance plan.
FURTHER INFORMATION
For those that would like to receive an ARLA Propertymark fact sheet on this subject, or require contact details of an energy performance assessor please e-mail your request to property@mannersresidential.com
