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EU energy performance certificates 'could hamper housing'
16/08/10
Edited by Tom Bardsley.The impending introduction of European Union (EU) legislation requiring energy performance certificates to be displayed for every residential property for sale in the UK could hinder green home improvements, rather than help them.
This is the opinion of Sustain's Gordon Miller, who warned that the regulations, which are due to come into force from 2012, will give the public the impression that environmental standards are being "dictated to them from on high".
Crucially, he added, the EU rules do not tell home owners how they can enhance the energy performance of their property, which is unlikely to fuel demand for builders to carry out green work.
However, Phil Levermore, managing director of energy price comparison service Ebico, argued that the new directive will make the link between a home's efficiency and its price "much clearer", which will be crucial in meeting the government's target of cutting household carbon emissions by 29 per cent over the next decade.
Furthermore, he said it will see more builders being called in to carry out green upgrades, as these measures will make a home "more saleable in the future" while also reducing heating bills in the short term.
