RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY SEARCH

In response to the Government's announcement during the Second Reading of the Energy Bill, to set minimum energy efficiency standards in the Private Rented Sector (PRS), Ian Potter, operations manager of ARLA, said:

"The Government's decision to allow F and G rated properties to remain on the market until 2018 is a practical one, given that around 17% of properties in the PRS fall into this category. This equates to around 500,000 properties in the PRS if landlords do not respond to the Government's proposals.

"However, we remain concerned about the lack of detail on 'greening' rental stock. So far, there is no clarity on how energy improvements will be assessed or enforced - or, importantly, how this assessment will be funded.

"ARLA would like to see the Energy Performance Certificate Register made publicly available so that those properties that do not meet energy efficiency standards can be identified.

"We believe that the Bill in its current form risks disincentivising the lettings market and discouraging landlords from investing in the PRS, at exactly the time when the Government should be focused on keeping properties in circulation.

"We fail to understand why successive governments continue to subsidise landlords with the lowest standards of property including energy efficiency by making uncontrolled payments of benefits."