Government handout of £10k per property for landlords

Government handout of £10k per property for landlords

16:13 PM, 31st May 2012, About 12 years ago 19

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As a landlord you can be forgiven for thinking that every bit of news from the government concerning the lettings sector is bad for the landlord – A new set of obligations which comes with the obligatory application process. Creating paper, jobs and VAT income for the government! Enough of my cynicism 🙂

So this article should bring you some cheer – and I will whisper this – A government policy that is based upon complete common sense!

It is the Green Deal and here’s how it works.

The government needs to reduce carbon emissions – it has something to do with saving the planet or such like. Anyway, as part of this, they’ve realised that our homes, particularly older ones, are not very energy efficient. They also realise that home owners and landlords will not spend their hard cash on energy saving measures because they take a long time to pay back by reduced fuel bills.

The Green Deal provides the following;

  • Up to £10k of grants to install or replace boilers, central heating, windows, wall and loft insulation
  • The grants are provided by private finance (eg B & Q etc). They get repaid by the energy companies who provide the house with gas/electric over 10+ years (so your tenant will pay for the works via their monthly gas/leccy bill 🙂 )
  • To qualify, the cost of the works must be equal to, or less than the energy bill savings (The Golden Rule) – So your tenants will not be paying higher bills In reality they will be paying less due to the increased efficiency.
  • There is no qualifying requirement for the house or tenant. Tenants can be private or DSS. You can even get the works done on your own home!

The Result;

  1. Happy landlord – No cost and a better house, attracting better tenants with higher rents and increased house value
  2. Happy Tenant – An improved house which is more energy efficient
  3. Happy government – No expenditure to pay and it creates lots of work for tradesman, creating tax receipts and boosting the economy
  4. Happy finance provider who will be making money on the loan for the grant works

A win, win, win…. win.

So – When do you start! It is planned to role out in October 2012.

How do you apply?

You need to have a report done by a Green Deal Assessor to confirm qualifying works and to make the grant application.

Our Property Managers are all Green Deal Assessors which means every one of our landlords properties will be assessed and automatically submitted for the improvements.

Best wishes,
Glenn Ackroyd
NATIONAL PROPERTY GROUP


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Comments

Glenn Ackroyd

11:39 AM, 1st June 2012, About 12 years ago

Some excellent posts. As stated above, there are current grants, such as those promoted by the energy savings trust - one of the best being http://www.warmfront.co.uk 

These provide cavity wall, central heating and loft insulation. 

We actively pursue these grants for landlords - we've got 40+ going through as we speak. However for the most part, these are means tested - eg for warmfront, families need to be on benefits, with a child under 5, or be aged over 60. This rules out the majority of the UK - but great for Vicky Pollard.

I'd definitely advocate anybody who can get a grant now, without needing the Green Deal, to do so.

The Green Deal is NOT means tested - anybody can qualify, subject to the golden rule (the savings of energy usage being less than the cost of works)

In 2015, a tenant can reasonable demand that certain energy works are done, and a landlord must comply. By 2017, a landlord must bring houses to a reasonable energy standard, OR THEY WILL BE UNABLE TO LET THEM OUT. So this is carrot and stick and the means of forcing landlords to improve housing stock.

Re payment back, it will all be part of the tenants energy bill. If the tenant leaves, it is passed onto the next tenant. You have a duty to notify new occupiers. The key thing is that the bill will not be higher than existing, so they will not be worse off. They will also benefit from a far more comfortable home.

Finally, Green Deal will include windows, which is not covered by any existing mainstream grants.

11:49 AM, 1st June 2012, About 12 years ago

you're right, this would not be fair, and to protect future occupiers, the calculation is done on typical expenditure, not the specific use by the current occupier.  Unfortunately Which? are campaigning at the moment for this to change though, so that the calculation would be based on the current occupier's heavy (or light) energy use. 

Doug Green

13:21 PM, 1st June 2012, About 12 years ago

 "...the cost of the works must be less than or equal to the energy savings..."

Over what period?

Thanks - Doug

0:16 AM, 3rd June 2012, About 12 years ago

To Glenn,I would like to know how you already have qualified "Greendeal assessors" The exam has not been set yet. Can you tell us exactly what all your property managers are qualified to do, and what exam they have passed?

8:07 AM, 3rd June 2012, About 12 years ago

I am amazed that you boast that you are already green deal advisors when the exam has not even been finalIsed yet. If you are wrong about this what other mistakes have you made. Does not look good when you say you have passed an exam that does not excist yet.

11:24 AM, 3rd June 2012, About 12 years ago

Yesterday the Government published updated consumer protection information which includes the proposed setting up of an advice line.
The Energy Bill (which includes the Green Deal) is still at committee stage and will be discussed again next week after the parliamentary recess.
You can find this up to date information at the D.E.C.C. here:
http://tinyurl.com/7hjfb8y

11:44 AM, 3rd June 2012, About 12 years ago

Just a thought about existing grants - a few years ago I qualified for a new boiler grant. I had no heating and no hot water when the old system went down in the Autumn. I was told by Warmfront this delightful news of my eligibility alongside the fact that I would have to wait 3 months for an assessor to confirm and around 6-9 months for an approved installer to do the work although they could not confirm the grant would continue that long.
That was the first and only time I ever bothered to check my eligibility for anything. Am I the only one thinking that Green Deal installations might increase the cost of the works covered and the need to approve and monitor installers mean that the likelihood of getting an installation to any specific time frame will likely be impossible?

15:20 PM, 3rd June 2012, About 12 years ago

Time frames as you suggest could be a problem.
These works HAVE to be carried out or the LL cannot let out the property.
Based on your deduction if you apply in October you won#t get the work done til
August the following year.
Bit worrying if a LL has a request by a tenant to carry out works, which the LL HAS to comply with, but can't get works done for almost a year.
Best get any appropriate works done ASAP!!

9:18 AM, 6th June 2012, About 12 years ago

I've been thinking about this for a few days now & while initially I was excited, as I'm about to start a new ronovation project, I don't think it's a win win. Tenants aren't saving money on bills, they're paying for their landlord's green house improvements through their bills and I think that might be off-putting to a tenant. Thinking about it logically if I'm trying to sell the energy efficiency of a house to a tenant & then say 'oh but by the way you won't see any financial benefit as any reduction in bills goes to paying off the work I had done' there's no way that's a USP, more of a taking the P out of the tenant.

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