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Michael Gove hints at altering the EPC deadlines

Energy efficiency mobile app on screen. Ecology, eco house concept

The upcoming Energy Performance Certificate deadline could be pushed back, after housing secretary Michael Gove said the environment shouldn’t be treated as a “religious crusade”.

As it stands landlords will have to bring their properties up to an EPC level of C by the end of 2025 for new tenancies, and by 2028 for existing tenancies.

But Michael Gove wrote in the Sunday Telegraph: “My own strong view is that we’re asking too much too quickly… I think we should relax the pace.”

He added: “One of the dangers … is that if people think that you are treating the cause of the environment as a religious crusade, in which you’re dividing the world into goodies and baddies, then you alienate the support that you need for thoughtful environmentalism.”

Landlords are currently being encouraged to adopt carbon neutral heat pumps in a bid to reduce the reliance on gas boilers.

As it stands homeowners can now receive up to £5,000 towards an air source heat pump, or £6,000 towards a ground source heat pump.

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said: “It is over two years since the government completed its consultation on energy efficiency standards in rented homes. As a result of the delay in responding to this, there was never any hope of meeting the originally proposed deadlines, as we told the minister earlier this month.

“The NRLA wants to see properties as energy efficient as possible, but the sector needs certainty about how and when this will happen. Ministers need to develop a proper plan that includes a fair financial package to support improvements in the private rented sector. We will continue to work with all parties to develop pragmatic and workable proposals.”

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