Earlier this month, I wrote about Ed Miliband’s policy requiring landlords to pay for Net Zero upgrades to their properties, and how this will impact tenants. Landlords are an easy target for governments because they are seen as earning while idle. Yet such divide-and-rule policies have very obvious secondary consequences, and it is inevitable that such costs will be passed on, one way or another, to renters, because either landlords will quit the market or they will demand higher rents. Now, it turns out that the Government has admitted this is the case.
The rules require that rental properties have an EPC grade C by 2030, and as explained previously, this will in turn require outlays of tens of thousands of pounds on average. Now, the Telegraph is reporting that, though Ed Miliband denied that costs would be passed on, Shadow Housing Secretary Kevin Hollinrake asked Justice minister Sarah Sackman to confirm that this was the case. She replied, “Expenditure on the upgrading of an energy performance certificate to a higher level of energy efficiency is a material consideration, which may result, in certain circumstances, in a higher market rent being determined.”
As the Telegraph explains:
Announcing the policy earlier this year, the Government said that it would “save private renters £240 per year on average on their energy bills”.
And this speaks to the bizarre arithmetic that has long infested Labour’s doublespeak about Net Zero. In the case of Cotswold district of Gloucester, landlords upgrading their properties
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You gotta love that statement by Justice Minister Sackman…
” a material consideration, which may result, in certain circumstances, in a higher market rent being determined.”
Yes, she actually thinks “market rents” are “determined” by government.
You couldn’t see a much starker illustration of the Socialists’ intention to seize control of the housing market.
All costs to bring a good to market are contained in the sale price.
In the case of rents, if all the cost cannot be recovered through the rent, it will be recovered by reductions in other aspects – poor maintenance, failure to respond to problems.
The assumption is that private landlords have the cash to do the necessary work. Many won’t have, so they will sell up or leave property empty.
It’s almost as if Labour are deliberately trying to destroy the rental market and what’s left of the economy.
What Millivolt actually meant: “Better to have no home at all than rent one without an energy certiicate.”
And only this morning we had the Prime Idiot – showing he meant business by rolling up the sleeves of his tieless shirt – and dribbled on about how he was for ‘working people’ and Farage could not be trusted while stopping work in whatever factory was hosting his presentation. Does anyone know if the taxpayer pays companies to host these political bunfights to compensate for stopping production? And it is a bit rich to have No Idea Kier claiming that Farage will tank the economy while that it exactly what his incompetent inexperienced chancellor is doing.
Unless they have a 5-7 year deal with Serco for illegal immigrant housing why would anyone be a landlord today.
It was under the hated Conservative governments that enforcement of evictions for rent arrears or other tenancy defaults became almost impossible. Courts routinely took and still take excessive time to hear the cass and most often ask for more reports. By the time the tenant leaves there is a huge backlog of debt which it is usually imnpossible to collect. The only agency with knowledge of the fornmer tenants home address id the DSS and they will not release the information.
It was the same governments which began the process of creating adverse tax rates for landlords. SDLT, disallowed expenses and other changes, new costly surveys and other costs were heaped upon landlords. The elites and MSM again referred to landlords in desparaging terms. Labour has continued this and made it worse.
Note how the goverment doesn’t like to mention that it likes to take usually 40% of gross rental revenue in the form of income tax before the landlord can start to pay costs. Hence the rental rates are massively increased to reflect this deduction.
Meanwhile big multi nationals etc get to write off most of their income as costs, or redirect it overseas, and hence pay almost no tax.
The reality is that Kneel and co intend to eliminate the private landlords and pass the whole market over to the largely multinational outfits and the money launderers such as Blackrock.
Coming soon to a country near you – rent controls.
Problem, reaction, solution.
Which will, of course, not produce cheap rentals, but no rentals!
Indeed. Ask Venezuelans how price controls worked out for them.
My BtL in the west country is currently EPC D. After buying the property I improved the loft insulation (now 300mm) and installed new, programmable electric radiators – replacing the very old storage heaters. It may qualify for EPC C when a new certificate is required but if it doesn’t, the only options will, based on the level of rental income it generates, be prohibitively expensive.
So I won’t be doing them. The property will be sold and another decent, well maintained rental home with a responsible landlady, will be unavailable for those who can’t afford (or don’t want) to buy.
Wow, a landlady in the UK who appreciates that not everyone wants to “get on the housing ladder”! Cheers!
In most other countries I know, landlords are valued and tenants are not viewed as peasants.
Landlords will pay 10’s of thousands of pounds? Or, a couple of grand to a dodgy certifier?
Surely there aren’t any dodgy certifiers?
If anyone knows of any in the Buckinghamshire region please report them to me. For research purposes only, of course.
Millibrain really is as thick as his stupid face makes him look. Ans he is aided by the generally ignorant and communist minded civil serpents that come up with these idiotic plans. Sack 90% of them and only keep the really clever ones
Why have we got these low IQ, communist Orwellian pigs in power. Are the British people that stupid? Seems they are
He has a degree from Oxford and a masters from LSE. His IQ is most likely well above average. He is either capable of doublethink (probably close to being a requirement for modern political life) or he is just a consummate and wicked liar, or both. If your job and your ability to implement “socialism” or boss people about depends on you pretending to believe certain things, it’s not that hard to do it.
So, just goes to show that a degree and a masters does not stop you being a complete moron.
Depends on your definition of moron. He is rich and powerful and doing what he presumably wants to do. I doubt he truly believes much of what he says. My base assumption with senior politicians is that they lie a lot, as much to themselves as anyone else.
Government of the idiocy, by the idiocy, for the idiocy.
All kneel and face Islington.
Our country is run by a Kakistocracy – government by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous people.
Make that kacketoocracy — Kacke is semi-vulgar German for excrement and it’s decidedly too cracy.
🙂
Net Zero Means Higher Rents
Great article Ben. The EPC refit is going to be impossible on many properties. One issue alone (and there are many) will be leasehold flats : the freeholder can simply refuse any external works (heat pumps, insulation etc). Landlords will simply have to sell many properties to owner occupiers.
So : This is actually a drive to reduce the volume of rental property available.
Conversely it could lead to a flood of rental properties coming to market as private landlords seek to exit. Prices become depressed and who’s waiting to swoop? Blackrock etc al.
“You will own nothing and be firkin miserable.”
So, Nett Zero is continuing its preposterous search for the Holy Grail of achieving nothing of any significance, while bankrupting us all. Excellent. Why do these people show not one shred of doubt as they stagger from one useless idea to another to prop-up this forlorn hope.
Partly because they’re useless and forlorn, i suppose.
Evil.
Because it was never about the climate.
Indeed it’s about taking all your stuff, comrades.
Nut zero does not offer hope in any form whatsoever, not even forlorn, it is the most anti-human, soul destroying, planet destroying unicorn ever invented. A Scam so immense it makes the Scamdemic look like a dodgy betting caper.
For as long as the scam keeps going
The money for Milied keeps flowing