A lively debate took place this week within the House of Lords involving as the Government’s spokesman, Lord McKenzie of Luton – the Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State, DCLG & DWP. This stemmed from questions raised by Lord Redesdale on the subject of EPCs.
Below are some of the relevant extracts:
‘Lord Bates: My Lords, when energy performance certificates were introduced in Northern Ireland, they were not attached to the costly and bureaucratic home information packs. Will the Minister explain why the same policy approach was not taken in England and Wales?
Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, home information packs are bedding down well and have proved to be a useful instrument to help purchasers. I think that the right decision was made.
Lord Tope: My Lords, how many buildings in the commercial and domestic sectors do not have EPCs?
Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, EPCs are needed for buildings that are constructed, sold or rented out. There are something like 4 million domestic EPCs and 141,000 non-domestic EPCs on the register. I cannot specifically answer the question how many there should be, but there are high levels of compliance, certainly in the domestic sector.
Baroness Gardner of Parkes: Will the Minister comment further on his remark that the home information packs are bedding down well? Has he not read in the
press comments by estate agents saying that the packs have not been any help whatever, which I believe is the general public view?
Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, more than 2 million HIPs have been prepared, providing important information up front to help to inform buyers' decisions. As a result, more than 2 million home owners now have an energy assessment and recommendations in their EPC that can help them to cut up to £300 off their fuel bills. Despite a difficult housing market, HIPs are helping to reduce transaction times. An estate agency survey, which looked at 37,000 transactions, showed that, on average, sales with HIPs go through seven days quicker.
Baroness Byford: My Lords, on the home information pack figures that the Minister gave us, how many people have had to go back and get new information packs because there is a very short timescale for their viability?
Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, I do not have that information to hand, but I can say that we intend to evaluate the effectiveness of HIPs by updating the 2007 HIP Baseline Research report. The new report should be available later this year.
Below are some of the relevant extracts:
‘Lord Bates: My Lords, when energy performance certificates were introduced in Northern Ireland, they were not attached to the costly and bureaucratic home information packs. Will the Minister explain why the same policy approach was not taken in England and Wales?
Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, home information packs are bedding down well and have proved to be a useful instrument to help purchasers. I think that the right decision was made.
Lord Tope: My Lords, how many buildings in the commercial and domestic sectors do not have EPCs?
Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, EPCs are needed for buildings that are constructed, sold or rented out. There are something like 4 million domestic EPCs and 141,000 non-domestic EPCs on the register. I cannot specifically answer the question how many there should be, but there are high levels of compliance, certainly in the domestic sector.
Baroness Gardner of Parkes: Will the Minister comment further on his remark that the home information packs are bedding down well? Has he not read in the
press comments by estate agents saying that the packs have not been any help whatever, which I believe is the general public view?
Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, more than 2 million HIPs have been prepared, providing important information up front to help to inform buyers' decisions. As a result, more than 2 million home owners now have an energy assessment and recommendations in their EPC that can help them to cut up to £300 off their fuel bills. Despite a difficult housing market, HIPs are helping to reduce transaction times. An estate agency survey, which looked at 37,000 transactions, showed that, on average, sales with HIPs go through seven days quicker.
Baroness Byford: My Lords, on the home information pack figures that the Minister gave us, how many people have had to go back and get new information packs because there is a very short timescale for their viability?
Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, I do not have that information to hand, but I can say that we intend to evaluate the effectiveness of HIPs by updating the 2007 HIP Baseline Research report. The new report should be available later this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment