It has recently been confirmed that from October 2008 landlords will need to provide energy efficiency certificates for their rental properties. These certificates are likely to cost around £100 and will need to be renewed every three years.

This move adds further red tape to the buy-to-let industry following the launch of the Tenancy Deposit Protection scheme in April which requires landlords to pay their tenants' deposits to a registered third party for safekeeping. There are around 850,000 landlords in the UK now so that is a fair number of certificates that will have to be granted.

The energy certificates in question are the same as the ones that will be included in the controversial HIPs (Home Information Packs) due to launch in June of this year and will grade a property's energy rating on a scale of A to G. They will be issued by trained energy inspectors but there are not yet guidelines for the certificate from the government which is causing some fears in the industry.

European law states that energy inspections are only required every ten years - seven years more in between certification than the proposed UK scheme. However, the governmental reasoning behind this is that more frequent checks will help increase the energy efficiency of buy-to-let properties. Mortgages of this type make up ten percent of all sold in the UK, and those who have invested in new builds are likely to be better off when the new regulations come to force as they are better insulated than their period counterparts.

There is some outcry that this move is just another way of penalising property investors, many of whom will be relying on their rental property for income in old age.

For the official release of this information, please follow this link

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