Electrical Contracting News (ECN) June 2016 | Page 38

SPECIAL FEATURE

RENEWABLES & SUSTAINABILITY

HOT PROPERTY
Chris Stammers at Dimplex assesses how the need for investment in the
private rented sector could signal an opportunity for electrical contractors.

F

rom April this year,
landlords purchasing
an additional buy-to-let
property are required
to pay an extra three
per cent surcharge on
stamp duty. According
to figures from HMRC
the impact of the hike led to a number of
purchases being brought forward, with
landlords keen to get deals done before
the April deadline. Figures show 161,990
property sales of £40,000 or more were
registered during March 2016, a 77 per
cent increase on March 2015.

Refurbishments
Despite this, housing market experts have
predicted that the property surge will be
short lived, as the UK housing market
gets set to slowdown. In the private
rental market, which now surpasses
social housing in size, there is a general
belief that with the stamp duty surcharge,
landlords will begin to shift their
investment away from new properties and
begin to spend more refurbishing their
buy-to-let portfolio.
For many, however, this change was
already under way, as landlords make
the necessary improvements to meet the

minimum energy efficiency standards
(MEES) set out last year by the Energy
Efficiency Regulations. The regulations
state that from 1st April 2018 it will
be unlawful for landlords to rent out
properties with an energy performance
certificate (EPC) rating of less than ‘E’.
What’s more, from April this year landlords
will be unable to refuse a tenant’s request
to make prescribed energy efficiency
improvements to properties.
Almost 10 per cent of the 4.2 million
privately rented homes England and Wales
currently fall below the ‘E’ rating and when
you consider that more than 60 per cent

of energy in the home is used in heating, it
becomes clear where the biggest savings
can be made.

Electric heating
Contractors are well placed to be able
to take advantage of this demand, but
will only get a head start with the correct
knowledge and understanding of choices
available. Those who work closely with
manufacturers will have the opportunity
to get a thorough understanding of the
benefits that electric heating systems can
deliver for the private rented sector.

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