Home energy certificates 'will hit property market'

Shadow housing spokeman Michael Gove says the Government 'needs to go back to the drawning board'
13 April 2012

Ministers were under pressure last night to delay the introduction of home energy certificates after the Government's own watchdog warned they could harm the housing market.

The Better Regulation Commission, which was set up by Gordon Brown to reduce red tape, has dealt an embarrassing blow to the project.

More here... • Latest news on house prices

It warns it has seen no evidence to suggest the "additional administrative burdens" imposed by the scheme will generate worthwhile energy savings.

Its scathing assessment prompted experts and opposition MPs to call for the whole scheme to be scrapped.

Shadow housing spokesman Michael Gove said: "The Government needs to go back to the drawing board.

"It needs to find a more efficient way of achieving its environmental objectives without forcing more costs on already hard-pressed homeowners."

He added that the proposed timetable "poses potential dangers to the housing market and has been criticised by expert bodies".

A revolt by estate agents and consumers last year forced ministers to abandon plans for £1,000 home information packs, or HIPs.

These would have required sellers to pay for a folder of information about their house before they put it on the market.

The Daily Mail led a grassroots revolt that forced ministers to abandon the scheme.

It emerged that the dossiers would not have to contain some of the most basic information required by a buyer, including details of natural subsidence, flood risks, rights of access and land contamination.

Instead, Labour decided to press ahead with a slimmed-down version based on European environmental guidelines which will require sellers to assess how green' their house is.

From June 1, a £100 Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) will have to be provided to potential buyers to warn them if the house needs a better boiler or loft insulation.

It will provide ratings similar to those given to electrical appliances such as washing machines.

But the Commission's report identified a series of problems with the way the Department for Communities and Local Government has designed the legislation.

It calls for a full assessment of "potential risks to the housing market".

The report concludes: Its proposals go beyond the requirements of the [ European] Directive with, at this stage, insufficient justification that this is warranted, with too little consideration of a full range of options or of the flexibility available, and with an inadequate assessment of the risks.'

Nick Salmon, of the anti-HIP campaign group Splinta, said: The Government has always brushed aside criticisms of Home Information Packs made by professionals in the property industry.

Now it is being told by its own advisory body that it has failed to make the case for including Energy Performance Certificates in the packs.

The fact is, Home Information Packs are a failed policy and should be shelved before they cause total disruption to the property market.'

He said his campaign was willing to help the Government make beneficial and cost-effective changes' to the homebuying process.

But HIPs did not come anywhere near fitting such a description.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in