Estate Agent Today reports the following:-
“An EU Directive will make it compulsory for energy efficiency ratings to be published in all UK homes ‘for sale’ advertisements, including on For Sale boards, from 2012, it has been claimed.
If correct, the directive, part of the Energy Performance in Buildings legislation, will effectively reverse a recent decision of the Coalition Government, and will bring back a delay in first day marketing.
In June, housing minister Grant Shapps announced it was no longer necessary to have an Energy Performance Certificate in place before a property could be marketed. It was only necessary to have commissioned one.
But according to the UK’s largest supplier of EPCs, the EU directive means that an EPC must be available at the point when marketing begins.
The directive will further alarm critics who say that no matter what the UK Government decides, it can always be over-ruled by the EU, and that the country is in truth ruled from Brussels.
The ruling would also infuriate those estate agents who say that buyers are simply not interested in EPCs.
Marc Blomfield, managing director of The National EPC Company, said: “People need to know what they are buying into, right from the outset. It’s their right. At the moment, potential property purchasers don’t have to be made aware of a property’s energy performance at their first viewing and often find out later down the line, when it’s too late.
“People don’t realise one-fifth of UK homes are rated F or G in the energy efficiency scale.
“People get too bogged down looking at room sizes and gardens. It’s about time efficiency joined the list of important considerations for home buyers: everyone wants lower energy bills, after all.
“There is plenty of financial help available to allow people get their homes up to scratch before selling, too.”
A recent study conducted by a quango, the Energy Saving Trust, found most properties could be improved to meet current green energy standards for less than £3,000. The same study also claimed 70% of property buyers would negotiate a property’s price if they discovered it was not energy efficient.
The Energy Saving Trust has also called for energy inefficient properties to be banned from both the sales and rental markets.
The UK Government is also seriously considering charging buyers of properties with poor EPCs a premium on Stamp Duty.”