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OTHER GUIDES & TIPS

Energy Efficiency: Another call for landlords to get help to hit targets

Another council is encouraging landlords and tenants to get help to improve the energy efficiency of rented properties.

Shropshire Council says there are national grants available for tenants and landlords to meet the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards set by the government. 

Grants offer the opportunity to install these measures for a contribution of as little as £1,000.

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A statement from the council says it will work with landlords to achieve minimum standards “but failure to do this or register an exemption is an offence and the council could consider issuing a Civil Penalty.”

 

 

 

A Shropshire council spokesman says: “I would really encourage tenants and their landlords to ensure their properties comply under the MEES legislation.

“With climate change being one of the greatest challenges we face, more extreme weather is likely to generate higher maintenance and insurance costs for landlords and higher utility bills for tenants, and we all have a part to play in reducing the carbon emissions, which are responsible.

“Housing accounts for around 30 per cent of Shropshire’s carbon emissions, but reducing heat loss through better insulation and installing more energy efficient and low carbon heating and lighting will help to significantly reduce them.

“Whether you’re a landlord, homeowner or tenant, you may be able to take advantage of some great offers to improve the energy efficiency of your home and reduce your energy bills at little or no cost.”

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  • icon

    Yes and where are these grants ? When you do find one they workout more expensive than simply paying yourself, 7 Yrs ago I had a single mum working 16 hrs a week , the boiler packed up so I thought lets try for a grant, I was expected to pay a £1900 contribution , I declined, bought a new Baxi boiler from Mr Central Heating £700 and my plumber charged me £500 to fit it, even this yr I've had 2 new boilers fitted for a total cost of £1750 each, grants are a waste of time.

  • George Dawes

    Plumbers coming today after 2 weeks with a faulty gas boiler , if he recommends a new one , I’m cutting my losses and going electric .

    The way the cost per unit is going they’ll be virtually equal in a few years time if not sooner and the maintenance of gas is utterly abysmal by comparison.

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    Interested to hear how it went? I considered changing from gas to electric in one of my rentals recently.

     
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    Why encourage LL’s to improve energy when there are 10’s of thousands of high rise clearly not required and thousands more under construction and even more planned look around you. They way it’s going they’ll be knocking down our Terraced & Semis to make play areas for high rise. Where are all those extra People ? not there so get us out of the way to let big boys take over, penalties for us, subsidies, grants, incentives and favourable Schemes for them, for buyers sometimes I see a perfectly Flat local a to big Developments, £100k less price tag but that one can’t be bought it won’t be part of the big boy tax payer funded Scheme,

  • icon

    I’ve tried energy saving methods in my HMOs and none have made any difference to the energy consumption. I compare the energy consumption with the EPC and cannot identify any saving. How do I know this because I read the meters every week in my HMOs which tells me how much gas and electricity each property uses.

    To give one example amongst many I had fitted a new A rated gas boiler in place of a 40-year-old boiler - big mistake! The 40 year old boiler would have cost £150 to repair once you could find the parts, the new boiler cost the best part of £2000 and once it was installed I could find no difference identified in the gas used pre-and post new boiler installation. I had just wasted the best part of £2000. I’ve now had to fit many more boilers which have to be A rated and I find no difference in the consumption of gas pre-and post boiler installation. Whether the new boiler burns better I do not know. I would love to do my bit to save the planet and reduce my costs but so far nothing in the way of energy efficiency has saved anything on the cost of utilities.

    The only thing I have found that makes a difference is to fit pre-pay electric meters to each HMO room. This almost half is the use of electricity in my HMOs as the tenants are now paying for the electric they use in their room and they ensure everything is switched off in their rooms. I also get a substantial contribution towards the cost of the electric from the money collected from the sale of electric to the tenants.

    I have brought my findings up with my local councils, written on a number of occasions to the consumer magazine WHICH and to my landlord associations to investigate and everyone refuses to even consider my claims and check the evidence of my meter readings. Am I becoming a conspiracy nerd when I say the energy conservation it’s all a con!

    That Shropshire Council should now enthusiastically enforce something that makes no difference and impose fines on landlords just sums up Councils for you. Why should I be surprised when they impose the wrong fire safety standards which are not even required in HMOs, room sizes and a whole load of other legislation against HMO landlords which have no benefit or a cost risk basis.

    By the way have a merry Christmas and I wish you all a happy healthy and prosperous New Year
    Jim Haliburton
    The HMO daddy

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    Jim
    Dudley Rd Birmingham, near to weston rd. Was A brassfoundry now staggeringly dense high rise flying up. The banks are tradinng these sites between themselves catapulting the debt and valuation up. They are going to require massive taxpayer subsidies after the banks get out and dump them on unsuspecting investors, just like the sub prime mortage crisis, where bad debts were traded as pristine quality investments.

  • icon

    Hi Edwin I do not know the site you're talking about however new property always seem to ridiculously expensive. Look at the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham back in 2006 and the Canal Basin in Broad Street now. If you've got in at the beginning they all look remarkably cheap yet at the time they were felt to be grossly overpriced

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