The Energy Act 2011 made provision for the development of a Green Deal enabling private companies to offer upfront energy efficiency measures and recoup payments through energy bills .Following consultation on proposals for the Green Deal and draft implementing legislation which ended on 18 January 2012, (the "Consultation") the Government announced on 8 March 2012 that DECC will be investing £3m to train Green Deal assessors and to address skills shortages in the insulation sector. A formal Government response to the replies to the Consultation is expected shortly.
The recent announcement here identifies that part of the funds shall be invested in training around 1,000 'go-early' Green Deal assessors. These are the people who are poised to undertake fabric assessments on properties and provide advice on energy usage. Fabric assessments are expected to cover the expected level of energy use for heat, light and hot water for domestic properties and a generalist assessment drawing upon specialist expertise where appropriate for non domestic properties. The recommendations which assessors make on potential measures suitable for finance under the Green Deal and the assessment information are to be communicated by revised Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs). The Golden Rule being that any costs of improvements must be less than the expected energy savings due to the improvements.
The stated longer term intention is for DECC to work with the sector skills councils, industry and BIS to develop apprenticeship schemes to train the level of assessors anticipated as necessary to assist with the practical implementation of the Green Deal, due to be launched in the second half of 2012.
Other future measures
There are an array of measures at differing stages of development in respect of improving energy efficiency in both new and existing buildings. Consultation on changes to the building regulations in England is drawing to a close shortly in March and April. See here for more details.
The Energy Act 2011 also requires that regulations are passed by April 2018 at the latest to prevent the renting of properties (both residential and non residential) which have not reached certain levels of energy efficiency. Further, the Act includes provisions to ensure that from April 2016, private residential landlords will be unable to refuse a tenant's reasonable request for consent to energy efficiency improvements where a finance package, such as the Green Deal and/or the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), is available. It is presently proposed that the minimum energy efficiency required would be no less than E and therefore shall affect properties with an EPC rating of F and G. However, it is intended that properties may be let if landlords have carried out the maximum package of measures funded under the Green Deal and/or Energy Company Obligation, but the EPC rating still falls short. Certain other properties (yet to be determined) may be exempted.
Survey
To gauge the impact of the EPC related proposals we should be grateful if you would complete a very short survey here.
This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq
Law-Now information is for general purposes and guidance only. The information and opinions expressed in all Law-Now articles are not necessarily comprehensive and do not purport to give professional or legal advice. All Law-Now information relates to circumstances prevailing at the date of its original publication and may not have been updated to reflect subsequent developments.
The original publication date for this article was 16/03/2012.
