8th
Jun 2015
Landlords are calling for immediate meetings to be held with the government, after a recent ruling by the European Court of Justice means that insulating a private rented property is going to cost much more.
In early June the court ruled that the 5% vat charge on energy efficiency products could only be applied on social housing as it otherwise breached EU law. So from now on all privately rented properties will have to pay the 20% vat rate.
The bad news is on top of the government stopping the Landlord Energy Savings Allowance a few months ago. This was a previous incentive for landlords to reduce their costs when improving energy efficiency in their properties.
The reason for their decision to scrap the allowance, was that their statistics showed nearly a third of private rented properties was built before 1919. These properties would be the most difficult to insulate as only 24% of these buildings would have cavity wall insulation, and only 25% have 200mm or more of loft insulation.
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