Delay to Energy Efficiency regulations in Scotland

Delay to Energy Efficiency regulations in Scotland

14:20 PM, 30th March 2020, About 4 years ago 1

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The Scottish Government has announced that they have taken the decision not to introduce the Energy Efficiency (Domestic Private Rented Property) (Scotland) Regulations 2020, which had been due to come into force on 1 April 2020.

SLE wrote an open letter to Kevin Stewart, the Scottish Government’s Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning, expressing concerns about the impact the Covid-19 pandemic would have on landlords abilities to prepare for these major changes.

SLE Chief Executive Sarah-Jane Laing said: “We find ourselves in exceptional circumstances, and we welcome the Scottish Government’s decision to delay the introduction of these energy efficiency regulations, which was the right decision given the circumstances.

“Our members are working tirelessly to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their families, their staff and the communities where they live, and in these circumstances, introducing the new energy efficiency measures is just not possible.

“It is imperative that we follow government advice to ensure the safety of ourselves and others. The new energy efficiency regulations would have required landlords to carry out building works in tenants homes at a time when we are being advised to social distance from others. We firmly believe neither tenants nor tradespeople should be placed in a position where they are concerned about infection.

“The Scottish Government has also asked non-essential construction to stop and this therefore prevents landlords from carrying out the necessary energy efficiency improvement work.”

In his letter to the Convenor of the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government and Communities Committee where he announced this delay, Housing Minister Kevin Stewart advised that the Scottish Government would “push forward with the vital work of improving energy efficiency in private rented housing as soon as the current COVID-19 situation comes to an end”.


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Comments

Jireh Homes

20:25 PM, 31st March 2020, About 4 years ago

The plan was for regulations to come into force 01 April 2020, but due to late "approval" by Scottish Government the implementation date was recently set as 01 Oct 2020. So whilst the regulations have been delayed beyond Apr 2020, it is not yet clear whether the implementation date will also slip. If the experience of the introduction of the PRT Lease is anything to go by, the implementation date may remain unchanged, using the argument the sector is aware of the changes and should have planned accordingly. I do not expect the back stop and next step change dates to change, so simply a reduced implementation timetable to achieve Band C.

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