An announcement by John Penrose MP, Minister for Tourism, may have brought a satisfactory end to the long-running controversy about Energy Performance Certificates.
On 29th September an announcement appeared on the website of the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport, detailing a number of initiatives that the Government intends to take to reduce red tape and bureaucracy in response to the "Red Tape Challenge" that ran earlier this year and to which EASCO and many of its members contributed.
Penrose has long been known as a keen deregulator. The announcement is short on detail but seems to make it clear that the government won't expect normal holiday homes to have one. Legal advice that EASCO has received makes it clear that this is the current law anyway.
The announcement does not say that a mess caused by poor work at the Department for Communities is being put right. Rather it hails the change of stance as a response to the Red Tape Challenge and the government's policy of reducing regulation where possible.
The announcement says the government will: "Change regulations to make clear that properties rented out for less than four months in a year do not need Energy Performance Certificates. Guidance will also make clear that an EPC is not required where a property is used for short term holiday lets as long as certain conditions are met."
The announcement does not say that a mess caused by poor work at the Department for Communities is being put right. Rather it hails the change of stance as a response to the Red Tape Challenge and the government's policy of reducing regulation where possible.
The announcement says the government will: "Change regulations to make clear that properties rented out for less than four months in a year do not need Energy Performance Certificates. Guidance will also make clear that an EPC is not required where a property is used for short term holiday lets as long as certain conditions are met."
Since the regulations don't require an EPC for a holiday home at present, according to our legal advice, it is not clear what changes, if any, to the actual regulations will be made, but they may possibly add clarity without a fundamental change. We can expect to see changes to the current, incorrect guidance.
The announcement follows many months of controversy. EASCO has been involved in the consultations for some years, and when the Department for Communities and Local Government decided to change their official guidance in early 2011 we obtained a formal opinion from an expert Queen's Counsel that criticised the Department for Communities and refuted their interpretation of the law. This formal legal opinion has never been published but has proved to be very important behind the scenes. It has been supplied to more than one Member of Parliament who have been able to use it in pressing the case for a sensible resolution of the problem.
Coast and Country Holidays welcomes this 'common sense' ruling, which helps us and the cottage owners that we work with to keep the red tape and bureaucracy costs of what we do to a minimum, ensuring that we can continue to provide the very best value for money for our Customers.
