Landlords unaware of Green Deal requirements

Many private landlords are unaware of their mandatory requirements for energy efficient homes, lettingagenttoday.co.uk reports.

A new study conducted by ARLA (the Association of Residential Letting Agents) suggests that many landlords are unaware of the government’s flagship Green Deal policy which would make renting out low-performing properties illegal.

In their study of 1,505 private landlords, ARLA found that 51 per cent said they’d not even heard of the Green Deal policy. A further 36 per cent said they were unaware of the energy rating of their rental properties, despite it now being law that rental properties must now come with an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate).

Of those who were aware of their energy performance rating, 14.5 per cent claimed that at least one of their properties fell under the F or G rating that would make them unable to be offered to letting agents from 2018 onwards.

Speaking to specifinder.com of their research, operations manager at ARLA Ian Potter explained: ”Our research suggests that landlords aren’t as clued up as they should be on the energy performance of their properties, and they are therefore not helping tenants to reduce both their energy consumption and energy costs.

“At a time when energy prices are rising and average household disposable income is reportedly at a four-year low, making a rental property more energy efficient could mean a big difference for tenants, and help a property stand out.”