x
By using this website, you agree to our use of cookies to enhance your experience.
Graham Awards

TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

All homes at least EPC rating C by 2033 says national housing chief

The housing chief of the Scottish Government says that all homes in that country - irrespective of tenure - must hit an EPC rating of at least C by 2033.

Patrick Harvie - who is a member of the Green Party and serves as Scotland’s Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights - made the statement to a conference of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in Scvotland last week.

The Scottish National Party and the Greens have an informal working relationship in the Scottish Parliament, with the Greens leading on some issues including housing. In his new role, Harvie has been a leading advocate of rent controls.

Advertisement

He told RICS: “Our homes and workplaces account for around a fifth of Scotland’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Our statutory target for 2030 means that we need to reduce emissions from heating buildings by 68% below their level in 2020.

“This is a monumental but essential task. Our building stock is relatively old, and wasn’t always built to high energy standards. This legacy of poor energy efficiency has contributed to emissions and fuel poverty, so we need to start drastically improving that standard.

“By 2030, we want to see a large majority of homes achieving a level of energy efficiency at least equivalent to an EPC C – with all homes meeting that standard by 2033, where feasible and cost effective. This will reduce emissions from our buildings, but it will also help make our energy more affordable, by removing poor energy efficiency as a driver of fuel poverty.”

Harvie, who is the Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Glasgow region, also wants homes in Scotland to switch to zero direct emissions heating.

“Meeting our 2030 target means that we need over a million homes and the equivalent of 50,000 non-domestic buildings to switch from fossil fuels. This is a huge transition, affecting communities, businesses and homes across Scotland.

“Getting there will need a much faster installation rate for these zero direct emissions heating systems. In recent years that rate has been around 3,000 homes annually, but we need to reach around 200,000 each year in the latter part of this decade.”

He added: “We know there will be more issues to resolve and we intend to tackle these collaboratively, drawing on the best knowledge and ideas from across society.

“The climate emergency is already here. But if we adopt many of the actions and ideas being discussed at this week-long Green Home Festival, they will stand us in good stead to mitigate its worst consequences.”

Want to comment on this story? If so...if any post is considered to victimise, harass, degrade or intimidate an individual or group of individuals on any basis, then the post may be deleted and the individual immediately banned from posting in future.

  • George Dawes

    Ridiculous , pointless and a scam

    Sums up the green agenda …


    How on earth did we cope for literally hundred of years without this epc drivel ?

    icon

    Don't worry, you can do a 2 day distance learning course and become an assessor! 😉

     
    icon

    The difference was, the population was so much lower. There was enough trees about to provide enough wood to burn. If we had enough trees for everyone now, we would all choke on the smoke.

     
  • icon

    That should be fun. I magine all the stately homes, medieval timber frame properties and even the beefeaters homes in the Tower of London all with external cladding to meet EPC C standards.

    icon

    Imagine all the exemptions they'll create...

     
  • icon

    "with all homes meeting that standard by 2033, where feasible and cost effective."
    "Getting there will need a much faster installation rate for these zero direct emissions heating systems. In recent years that rate has been around 3,000 homes annually, but we need to reach around 200,000 each year in the latter part of this decade.”

    Is it even possible to train enough installers for the target of 200000 installations a year to be feasible?
    Define cost effective? Who would be paying these costs? The end user or the usual tax payers who seem to be expected to pay ever higher taxes to fund all the handouts?

  • icon

    “” Where feasible and cost effective “ ! ….. this is the get out …….all hot air (pun intended).

    icon

    The problem is he means zero cost for the SNP voting tenants!

    He and his Scottish Nasty Party bosses don't care about financially numerate property owners (occupiers or landlords) who are sensible enough never to vote for the SNP or the Greens.

    He will load the costs on to landlords (private and social) and then use rent freezes to protect his voters!

     
    Andrew Murray

    He will load the costs on to landlords (private). Social will have an exemption.

     
  • icon

    Yes all Homes of Course except the one’s exempt, like the Licensing Schemes or S.24 you can’t beat equality before the Law, not.

  • icon

    “Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights” is this what people call “woke?”. Like our department of “Levelling Up”?

    This department is a bit of a
    Mouthful. The fact that they even bother to name a department that show the direction of travel of politics and housing. A very grave time to be a landlord.

  • icon

    I think there should be a completely different assessment criteria for London with less stringent measures required to take account of the much milder climate in this area. I know there’s a big difference in Temperatures in Winter in other parts having lived in them.

    icon

    Good point...has merit and I would love to see this explored. The problem is the Greens and the Assessors and the Government and the manufacturers of solar panels, air source/ground source heat pumps etc etc all have their own agenda and won't listen to this sensible suggestion. Pains me every time I read this EPC C by 2030 rubbish...it's just going to be impossible to achieve and at an impossible cost to the owner of the property (not the user of the property who would be the actual beneficiary of any improvements).

     
  • icon

    Typical Greenie B S

  • icon

    Another climate nutter. It's never going to happen.

    icon

    Hope you're right - but then we never expected Harvie and his little green nutters to be in any position of power!

     
  • icon

    Carrie Johnson and Prince Charles are greenies.

    icon

    Well we've got rid of Carrie, good rid dens, now we just need to get rid of that half wit Charlie boy, mind you no one listens to the fool do they ?

     
  • Matthew Payne

    Not sure how you will make it happen on main residences. Cant sell unless a C, lol?

    icon

    Now that would be funny

     
  • David Todd Keller Williams

    For tenanted properties you will need to be at a C by 2025 NOT 2033. Any landlords should be checking their properties now and seeing what will be required and how much it will cost. The interesting part in all this is the "where feasible and cost effective" statement where various figures range from £3,500 up to £15,000 as a budget. Most of the housing stock in Scotland will never get there and most of these types of properties are owned and managed by the Social sector.

    icon

    No David, that's what is being talked about, it has not been passed into law, it might happen, or something similar might happen, but it's not happened yet, until I know for sure I'm doing nothing, if and when it does happen I will assess each property on a one by one basis, if I consider the up grades viable I'll spend the money, if not the properties will go to auction one per year, no one pushes me into a corner

     
  • icon

    I suspect HMO’s will be required to have it from ‘25 whether it comes in or not, they have added so many unjustified things already.
    I don’t know how we lived years ago, we had no proprietary insulations, central heating, Cavity walls or computers burning up energy, we had houses built of clay and stones.I know the walls were 60cm thick I suppose what keeps in the heat keeps out the cold, not much passing either way there.

    icon

    My Farther was an antique dealer, he would not have central heating, he claimed it wrecked the old furniture, we heated one room, slept in cold rooms (as you should) wore warm clothes in winter, nothing wrong in that, but the snow flakes of today would claim it would be against their human rights to live like that.

     
  • David Todd Keller Williams

    Unfortunately its in the legislation coming through in Scotland and published in its latest Heat In Building Strategy. C by 2025. It's also included in its New Deal for Tenants consultation and legislation. I suggest every Landlord who has a property in Scotland reads this as there are some big changes. Whether it all gets passed into Law will remain to be seen however as The Green Party hold the balance of power they have the SNP by the short and curly's so everything they want is going through. There may be some grants available to help but these are not available yet unless you have tenants on certain benefits that may qualify for some of the schemes.

    icon

    So the SNP will finish the job of killing the Scottish PRS which they began with their December 2017 legislation!

    I then stopped renting to families and now only rent to students to ensure no long term tenants preventing me from getting back my own properties when I want them back.
    I have also been able to increase market rents by 30% and have up to 17 groups desperate to rent my flats when they become available. I don't even need to advertise any more and usually get a friend of the outgoing tenants who realise how lucky they are to get the flat.

    If the.EPC 3 requirement gets into law, Scottish tenants will be in real trouble.

    The SNP are hiring two cruise ships to house refugees. They'll need a whole fleet for evicted tenants and procuring ships or ferries is not the SNP's strong point!

     
  • icon

    I am sure LL would willingly upgrade their housing stock if grants were made available to them. At the moment they can not be making a profit because mortgages have gone up but rent caps prevent LL increasing rents. If you don't get paid the money you can't use it to upgrade property. Less profit made also means less taxes paid. Nicola needs to think before she agrees stupid policies.

icon

Please login to comment

MovePal MovePal MovePal
sign up