MPs back new EPC bill

Don’t rest on your laurels just yet though, MP’s announced yesterday that they were backing a proposed Bill that could see all domestic properties required to hold an EPC of C by 2035.

The Bill was proposed by Sir David Amess, Conservative MP for Southend West, who suggested that all homes, except where it is prohibitively expensive (such as in stately manors) should be helped to reach the EPC target of C by 2035.

Amess hopes to close a loophole on the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act that allows commitments to increase energy efficiency in a property if they are not deemed ‘reasonably sensible.’ He believes that this loophole is allowing home owners and landlords to wriggle out of implementing measures that would improve the situation within a property.

He Bill was brought about following concern over ‘Dickensian’ situations, which sees elderly people living in just one room that they can afford to heat, and households living in fuel poverty – where they are paying above average energy costs causing them to be pushed below the poverty line.

Should the Bill be passed – which is looking fairly likely as it received a unanimous backing on its first reading yesterday, has it’s second reading scheduled for March 16th - it is likely that the industry will see further initiatives to help implement the scheme. In the meantime, the only concrete date to work towards remains April 1st 2018 for new tenancies, with an EPC required to be at an E rating or above, and April 2020 for existing tenancies.