October regulations come into force
Wednesday, October 01, 2008

As of today, Wednesday October 1st, several new regulations affecting the property market have come into force, including rules surrounding the planning permission needed for home extensions and energy performance certificates for all new residential lets...

Communities and Local Government is busy introducing a large number of measures designed to tackle the energy efficiency of buildings, most of these affecting local authorities.

One of these measures is the introduction of energy performance certificates - as reported in TheMoveChannel's news story of Tuesday September 23rd - from today, 1st October, it will become compulsory for all new residential lets to have an EPC, affecting the marketing of around 10 per cent of properties for sale.

Unlike before, no property, whether it is bought, sold, built or rented, is exempt, regardless of its time on the market.

Most sellers will already have an EPC as part of their Home Information Pack (HIP) so will have nothing more to do. However, those sellers who have been marketing before HIPs were introduced and did not require a HIP, will need to purchase an EPC or face a fine. Exempt sellers still do not require the HIP but do require the EPC.

Carl Brignell, HIPs Expert at Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward, explains: "Every property on the sales market now needs an EPC.

"Unlike the Home Information Pack regulations, under the new rules the seller is responsible for complying, not the agent.

"Unsurprisingly, there has been very little noise from the Government about these new regulations however they affect roughly 10 per cent of our current stock," he added.

Judienne Wood, Group Lettings Director of Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward, told TheMoveChannel.com, "There's no doubt that it's certainly a good idea for tenants to understand the energy efficiency of a property they're about to rent.

"However, on short term rentals it is thought that the EPCs will be of little or no use to the tenants, purely as they are there on a short term basis and therefore, not as interested in the property's energy efficiency as they would probably be if they were buying.

"For landlords on the other hand, it is an additional expense that they will have to incur.

"An EPC costs in the region of £85 + VAT which in itself is not a large sum but when added to the other costs such as the gas safety record, the electrical inspection reports, inventory costs and the tax on rental income, it all starts to get quite expensive," Ms Wood added.

Move or improve?

Improving your home just became a whole lot easier for tens of thousands of families.

As TheMoveChannel.com's news story of September 11th reported, the new regulations mean that the majority of homeowners will no longer need to get planning permission to extend their home.

This will remove around 80,000 household planning applications from the planning system have been introduced.

The changes allow people to extend their home up and out for the first time without needing to pay the costs (up to £1000) or wait weeks to get planning permission to start building.

In the midst of global economic turmoil, many Brits cannot afford to move house in order to get more space, so extending their existing home could be the answer. These new rules will help them to do that.

You can log onto http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/hhg/houseguide.html, which will guides you through the planning permission rules for homes from everything at the front and back of house through to each floor inside.

Housing and Planning Minister Caroline Flint said, "From today people will find it has become much easier to convert the loft and build on an extension.

"The changes the government has made will mean about 80,000 households a year no longer have to get planning permission.

"At a time when the whole country is counting their pennies carefully any room to make a saving on stretched family finances is particularly welcome," added Ms Flint.

The British Property Federation (BPF) supports the move, which could save up to £50 million each year in application fees and costs related to application processing and delays.

Senior Policy Officer at the BPF, Jonathan Seager, said, "The planning system is suffering from a lack of resources therefore we should be focusing what resources there are on applications which affect the most citizens and have the ability to significantly improve an area.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is also backing the new plans. "RICS welcomes the Government's attempts to cut red tape and free up a heavily congested planning process," said a spokesperson.

In addition, the changes today mean that anyone who wants to put in a new driveway or parking area over five square metres will not require planning permission if they use surfaces that allow the water to soak through the ground.

Following the flooding last year which affected thousands of homes, the new regulations also rule that new driveways or parking areas over five square metres in size will not require planning permission if they are constructed using surfaces that allow the water to soak through the ground.

This is designed to reduce the flood risk associated with surface water run-off.

As two-thirds of the homes affected by the floods last year were due to surface water run-off, these new plans are aiming to combat that.

Any new regulations to help to improve the UK housing market can only be looked upon as a good thing as property markets across the world suffer the ongoing effects of the global credit crunch.