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Plans to force property portals to carry EPC certificates under fire

Trade association applauds official plans to make portals increase compliance in market, but questions mandatory EPC display.

Nigel Lewis

epc portal

Propertymark has endorsed the government’s plans to make Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket play a greater role in transparency within the property market but has criticised Ministers’ proposals to make them carry proof of EPC certificates.

The Government has been pushing the big portals to play a bigger part in aiding compliance and making the sales and rental markets more transparent for some time now.

This has included attempts by the housing ministry and National Trading Standards to persuade portals to carry more statutory property information, as well as prevent portal juggling and prevent landlords stipulating ‘no DSS’ in adverts.

But when it comes to EPCs, Propertymark says the picture is more complicated.

“For instance, it is not common practice to advertise the tenancy type or whether the property has an exemption under the energy efficiency rules,” its submission to the government’s recently-ended consultation on tougher EPC regulations says.

“Furthermore, rooms in shared accommodation are not required to have an EPC unless it is required for the property as a whole.

Compliance

“Private landlords cannot advertise directly on property portals, so based on the consultation document which states that around 43 per cent of landlords use a letting agent to either let or let and manage a property for them, this means the UK Government is focusing a large proportion of it is future enforcement activity and compliance on less than half of the sector.”

Propertymark has also given feedback back on several other issues related to EPCs, including how forcing landlords to reach EPC band C by 2028 for their rented properties is ‘unrealistic’.

Read its full consultation submission.

January 21, 2021

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