Energy efficiency retrofit course ahead of Labour EPC...

The National Residential Landlords Association is introducing a new energy efficiency retrofitting course this summer - ahead of possible EPC rule tightening if Labour wins this year’s General Election.

The association says its course is open to non-members as well as members.

The course will offer practical advice for landlords on how to lower fuel bills, and tackle damp and mould as well as offering an in-depth look at systems for insulation, heating, ventilation, and renewables.

Last year Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that he was abandoning plans to introduce a minimum EPC rating of C in all rental properties by 2028 although there is a high expectation that if the Conservatives win the election they will return to the subject.

From Labour’s side, shadow energy and net zero spokesperson Ed Miliband has already indicated that he would like to see a minimum C rating for private rental EPCs in future.

A statement from the NRLA says the course has been devised by Dr Sue Roberts, a highly experienced Domestic Energy Assessor and Green Deal Advisor, who will explain how landlords can retrofit to meet existing – or new - energy performance requirements, including the different options for heating water.

Delivered virtually, by an NRLA trainer in real time, the first eClassroom course will be held on Wednesday July 10 at a price of £154 for members and £193 for others.

You can book your place here.

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Simon Logan
15 May 2024 07:22 AM

I am getting concerned 😦 he may be injured 🤕 somewhere, or lost in a 🌲 forest 😂😂 Come back Gibbo we love you.

Ellie Edwards
15 May 2024 07:30 AM

Labour needs to be pragmatic in their approach to the private rental sector if they actually want to help tenants in any way.

They should drop the EPC improvements altogether and allow fixed term tenancies, as well. It is also no good having Draconian rules and punishments if there are no landlords left - or a great deal fewer landlords so that more people are homeless.

The key point is that people don't have to be landlords. As soon as properties become liabilities, not assets, people will sell them. That situation is being rapidly reached now for a very large number of landlords. The Tories may well have wanted to get rid of small private landlords. Is that the Labour aim, too?

They also need to look at the effects of the Tory Renters Reform Bill for tenants- higher rents and a reduced supply of properties to rent. The big companies have been supported and they charge very high rents with an obvious knock on effect to all private rented properties.

Simon Miller
15 May 2024 09:28 AM

They'll suggest foam backed plasterboard, so you can loose as much as 10cm off each wall from the inside. (small rooms get smaller) Triple glazing will be a popular choice. Upvc frames with a foam injection? (how much???) Solar panels or solar heating on the roof. (needs a 2nd mortgage!) - and the biggest laugh, the "new" style of heating is an air pump. Good luck with that, given its 5x more expensive than gas, and your radiators will need to run cooler, but have a MUCH faster, and higher pressure water flow. Somehow they'll wangle that as more "eco friendly" because the electric is offset by ghastly, expensive and un-recyclable wind farms that do nothing on a frosty winter's morning, except use power from the grid to stop parts from freezing. So, it can be done! Cost? I don't know. 30k? But how much value would it add to your terraced property? If you're lucky, £10k. So, will the gov' be handing out 20k grants? I doubt it very much.