Grant Shapps responds to Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) policy
After a recent article ‘Grant Shapps to change Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) delivery?‘ where we discussed the changes Grant Shapps and the Conservatives have suggested that they may implement within the EPC regulations, we can publish the response we have received.
In a letter from Grant Shapps’s office …
Hope you are well, thanks for giving us the opportunity to respond to the article published on your website.
As you know, Conservatives opposed the introduction of have Home Information Packs and have consistently maintained that in government we would abolish HIPs.
The packs are costing the housing market more than £300 million a year and Grant has pledged to give the industry a shot in the arm by making HIPs history.
I know you’re also aware of the Party’s commitment towards Energy Performance Certificates. Grant believes that EPCs are, however, being under-utilised bound up as they are in the pointless bureaucracy of the HIP regime. In a speech to the Building Research Establishment in November, Grant outlined the Party’s plans for EPCs in a post-HIPs market. You can read the speech here.
By using our innovative Green Deal as a vehicle, Grant believes that EPCs will become a more important part of the homebuying process whilst also increasing the likelihood of a householder commissioning a report outside of the buying and selling process. Conservatives have said that an EPC should be commissioned before a property comes to the market but crucially the completed energy assessment should include details of the simple changes that could be made to the home through the Green Deal.
Grant and his colleagues are ready to tackle the 27 per cent of this country’s emissions which come from domestic properties. We know that EPCs and Domestic Energy Assessors will play an integral part of ensuring success in this regard.
Thanks again for getting in touch and for providing us with an opportunity to respond.
Best regards
As is becoming seemingly more frequent and not just with the Conservatives; the response given warrants clarification and further associated questions which still remain unanswered.
Below are questions which we know many seek answers to (we have re-referenced and re-quoted from the initial statement above)
Conservatives have said that an EPC should be commissioned before a property comes to the market but crucially the completed energy assessment should include details of the simple changes that could be made to the home through the Green Deal.
Q 1 Are you saying that as long as an EPC has been ordered a property can be marketed and therefore potential buyers/tenants may not be able to use the EPC as part of an informed decision making process as the EPC may not be in place?
Q 2 It is recognised that HIPs have helped raise and ensure EPC compliance in the domestic market; especially when you compare the non compliance rates of standalone commercial EPCs.
Quidos Commercial EPC non-compliance report
NHER Commercial EPC compliance investigation
If you plan on relaxing EPC requirements in domestic properties and scrapping HIPs how are you going to ensure domestic EPC compliance remains high?
Q 3 Is it fair to say that Conservatives seem to be aiming to lower standards in the home buying and selling process; when most industry professionals are looking to increase standards and regulation. By lowering standards are you hoping to stimulate more activity in the market?
As you know, Conservatives opposed the introduction of have Home Information Packs and have consistently maintained that in government we would abolish HIPs. The packs are costing the housing market more than £300 million a year and Grant has pledged to give the industry a shot in the arm by making HIPs history.
Q3 Have you decided upon who will be involved in the consultation regarding home information packs which you previously mentioned and what do you hope to achieve with a consultation if you have already decided that HIPs will be scrapped?
Q4. Are you going to replace Home Information Packs with anything else or will we revert to the old system pre-HIPs?
Grant Shapps’s office have indicated they will respond as soon as is possible.
Hopefully, the response will detail and answer the above questions and provide the information for those interested in energy efficiency and EPCs so an informed decision can be made at the nearing general election. Whether EPCs will form part of an informed decision making process in the Conservatives’ prospective home buying and selling process still seems far from clear.
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