The government should consider tax breaks for hundreds of thousands of private landlords to encourage them to adopt energy saving measures offered by the government under the Energy Security and Green Economy Bill, says sustainability and planning consultancy DPP.
The Energy Security and Green Economy Bill, known as the Green Deal, will come before parliament next month and will offer homeowners and landlords’ loans of up to £6,500 to install energy saving measures. The loan would be linked to a property’s energy meter, with repayments made based upon the savings achieved.
And whilst it is anticipated that many home owners will take advantage of the Green Deal, there is likely to be little enthusiasm from private sector landlords, who whilst having to pay for such measures believe that they will not directly benefit.
The government has suggested that it may legislate to compel landlords to adopt such measures if they fail to voluntary improve the energy efficiency of their portfolio.
Mary Rawlinson, a senior sustainability consultant with DPP, suggests that a carrot in the form of tax breaks is likely to work far more effectively in persuading landlords to adopt energy efficiency measures.
She said: “Private sector landlords have been affected by the recession of the past two years and it is always going to be difficult to persuade them to investment money on energy efficiency measures when it is their tenants that will benefit most.
“The government should consider tax breaks for those landlords who adopt these measures and offer ‘green leases’ to their tenants. The government could introduce such breaks in advance of the Bill being enacted and offer them for just a limited period of time, say until 2015.
“Landlords will always have the bottom line at the front of their mind and this might just persuade them to act and act quickly.”
The Bill will also present considerable opportunities, as well as costs, for RSLs. RSLs will need to understand the energy utilisation within assets clearly to target the high waste areas and yield greatest return. They will be able to use size to enable cost efficiencies through bulk buying and longer term refurbishment programmes.
And the Bill may offer revenue generating opportunities as Mary explains “RSLs will in addition to providing a service to their own assets, be able to offer their expertise to the wider marketplace.”
The Energy Security and Green Economy Bill will go before Parliament in November 2010. It is unlikely to become law before 2012
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About DPP
DPP is a top ten independent town planning consultancy providing strategic advice to the a range of clients. DPP's chartered planners, sustainability, heritage and design experts work with developers, landowners, business operators and public sector bodies, offering services relating to the development and use of land. The firm operates in all development sectors with a particular presence in residential, retail, regeneration, mixed uses, business and commercial. DPP is committed to maintaining the qualities that separate us from our competitors, as well as continuing to enhance our established reputation for providing high quality, efficient and cost-effective services while helping clients reach their planning and development objectives.
Clients of DPP include Bellway Homes Ltd, Caffé Nero, Centros, Domino's Pizza, English Heritage, Invensys, Liberty Properties, Liverpool Land Development Company, Mercian Developments, The Ministry of Justice, Shell International, Taylor Wimpey, Tesco, Unilever Pension Fund Trustees, United Utilities, the Watkin Jones Group and the Welsh Assembly Government.
Contact
Ceri Edwards, Redwood Consulting
Tel: 020 7828 5553
Email: ceri@redwoodconsulting.co.uk