Newsletter - McCartan Lettings & Property management

April Fools No Joke for Poor Rental Accommodation

Regulations coming into effect on 1^st April 2018 mean landlords will not be able to let out a property with Energy Performance Certificate ratings of F or G.

At McCartan Lettings, we are pleased to report that all our managed properties are rated E or higher, meaning they comply with energy performance standards.

Exemptions and Consultations

Guidance released by the Government back in December clarified that exemptions would be made for landlords if they are unable to obtain suitable funding to cover the cost of making improvements, or all "reasonable" improvements have been made and the property remains below an EPC rating of E.

In February, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (DBEIS) launched a consultation into modifying those exemptions to include a “landlord funding contribution” element. This would mean landlords would be expected to pay up to &2,500 per property on improvements. The consultation ended on 13^th March (2018), and we are awaiting their report on the findings.

Funding Available

There are currently four options available for funding;

A Green Deal Plan
Energy Company Obligation or similar scheme
Funding provided by Central Government or local authority or third party
A combination of any of the above

Risks to Rent Rises

When the consultation was first announced, the National Landlords Association (NLA) said they were in disagreement with the premise of the consultation, saying that the imposition of a cost cap would raise the financial burden placed on landlords, with the risk of costs being passed onto tenants. They called for the reintroduction of the Landlords Energy Saving Allowance (LESA), scrapped in 2015, as a means to incentivise and encourage improvements across the whole sector, not just the lower end.

Further Assessment Recommended

Changes to the way EPC grades are calculated could mean that having another assessment carried out on a property could raise the banding without landlords actually needing to undertake any improvements.

If you would like to book a new EPC to be carried out at your property, please give the team at McCartan a call on 01792 430100, or click here to email us.