East Lindsey District Council has issued a Civil Penalty of £2000 to the landlord of a property after receiving new powers in 2018 for non-compliance of The Energy Efficiency Regulations 2015.

The property in Tennyson Road, Mablethorpe lacked sufficient insulation and failed to meet the minimum Energy Performance Certificate rating of E, resulting in high heating costs for the tenant. The landlord was issued a compliance notice requiring work be carried out to meet the required standards but the works were not carried out.

All landlords of private rented properties have a duty to ensure the properties they let meet a certain standard of living and are legally required to have an Energy Performance Certificate of Band E or above.

If the property has been identified as providing low levels of energy efficiency, which can include poor heating, lack of insulation, draughts, or single glazed windows, works are required to bring the property up to a better standard.

These regulations are known as The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property)(England and Wales) Regulations 2015, and since the new powers were granted, the District Council have investigated over 200 properties that do not meet this standard and have found several that have been let in contravention of the regulations.

The Council continue to liaise with landlords in order to support them comply with the regulations, however, Civil Penalties are given if orders are not complied with and the Council is currently pursuing various other landlords through its enforcement process in regard to breaches of these regulations.

 Portfolio Holder for Communities, Councillor Wendy Bowkett, said: “These regulations were introduced to ensure that tenants can live in homes with adequate levels of heating and insulation, and whilst we will always assist landlords to comply with their obligations, we will also take robust action against those landlords that fail to provide their tenants with a property that is decent and safe.”

 Any landlords with properties in the ELDC area wishing to find out more about these regulations can contact the Housing Standards team on 01507 613571, or can visit the Council’s website at
www.e-lindsey.gov.uk/energyefficiency

No Comments