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Legislation for the electrical safety check regulations was imposed in 2020. This followed on from the Landlords Gas Safety Certificate which became a legal requirement in 1998. This type of legislation is required to help maintain a high level of safety within rental properties.
In 2018 landlords also had to ensure Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards MEES) for properties, as you can see in this article – 1st April – MEES regulation now in play.
When the MEES regulations were first implemented in April 2018, private landlords could not let properties on new tenancies to new or existing tenants if the EPC rating was F or G (unless an exemption applied).
From 1 April 2020, the prohibition on letting properties with an EPC rating of F and G was extended to cover all relevant properties, even where there has been no change of tenancy. Landlords with properties assessed at EPC F and G have had to further improve the property rating to E or register an exemption.
We have been working with our landlords over the past two years to ensure that all properties that we let on their behalf meet these standards.
The Government has recently announced that it is committed to further increasing the standard of domestic rental properties and has proposed an increase again to the energy efficiency standards. Some of the key aims of this change are to:
The Government has proposed to increase the minimum energy efficiency standards for the private rented sector to EPC Band C by 2030. The consultation is underway and finishes at the end of the year. For full details about the consultation, click on this link – Improving the energy performance of privately rented homes. The consultation ends on 30 December 2020, and we urge landlords to give their views on this consultation.
Latest stats issued by Dataloft show that around 5 million households across England and Wales live in the private rented sector. Dataloft estimates that less than half (45%) of stock already meets the proposed minimum standard based on the profile of new tenancies over the past 12 months.
The North West is estimated to have the largest proportion of compliant properties (52%), with Wales having the least (38%).
The advice being issued is that landlords may wish to start reviewing stock in their portfolios and/or, preparing to make the necessary upgrades. Landlords can access a grant towards energy efficiency improvements through the new Green Homes Grant. To find out more about this click on this link – Green Homes Grant: make energy improvements to your home. £0
Our Director, Adam Kingswood, stated We fully understand why increasing the energy efficiency of homes is so important and in the long-term will have a significant impact on tenants, sustainability and climate change. However, the impact on landlords must be acknowledged and the type of property stock in the private rental in this country, as some properties, will be very expensive or impossible to meet a C rating. We hope that if these new measures are put into place, landlords are given plenty of time to upgrade their rental properties.’
We are specialists in the letting, management and investment of residential properties in Nottinghamshire, so if you are a landlord or property investor contact us by calling 0115 704 3163 (Nottingham) or 01623 277115 (Mansfield). Alternatively, you can email us via our contact us page – £0click here.
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If you have a question or would like any other details please just get in touch.
