Landlords, do your properties meet the new Energy Performance Certificate rules?
New legislation is coming which will put the onus on landlords to ensure their properties meet minimum standards of energy performance. Chris Longhurst, expert buy to let mortgage adviser, hints at what to expect and points landlords towards how to take action.
Government research has shown that the Private Rented Sector has a disproportionate share of the UK’s least energy-efficient properties and fuel-poor households.
To address this issue, from April 2018, rental properties in England and Wales must have an Energy Performance Certificate rating of E or above before a tenancy can be granted to new or existing tenants. This rule will also effect landlords’ ability to get a buy to let mortgage.
Further, from April 2020 all domestic rented properties and from April 2023 for all non-domestic rented properties must be at least E-rated even if the tenancy agreement has not changed.
The new legislation kicks up lots of questions for landlords including:
- Why are these rules being introduced?
- How will the new EPC rules affect me and my rental properties?
- What are the current EPC ratings of my properties?
- Where can I get a copy of my certificates?
- When do these certificates expire?
- What should I do if my property doesn’t have an EPC rating?
- What do I need to do if my property has an F or G rating?
- How will the rules affect my ability to refinance my rental properties?
- How will the rules affect my plans for portfolio expansion?
There is so much to consider but don’t panic! We are here to help…
EPC retriever
Our IT team has been making use of the national EPC register and created some whizz bang app to save landlords time, which links the latest EPC report to the relevant buy to let mortgage application. The good news is that the majority of these appear to be passing muster but where they don’t we can at least alert the applicant to the situation and point them in the right direction to rectify the situation.
We have developed a free tool to help you retrieve a copy of each of your EPCs.
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13th February 2018
