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There’s plenty of help available to registered private landlords looking to improve the energy efficiency of their rental properties. Read on to find out more and call us on 0808 808 2282 or complete our email contact form for free and impartial advice.

If you are a registered social landlord please visit our page on how we can support social housing providers.

Benefit from making your property more energy efficient

Making your rented properties more energy efficient could add value, make your properties more attractive to new tenants, lead to lower turnover of tenancies, and reduce potential problems such as damp.

Improving energy efficiency should also increase the rating on your property’s Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), helping you meet minimum energy efficiency standards. 

You can read more about the minimum standards below.

In addition to this, improving energy efficiency should lower energy bills for your tenants, making them warmer at home and reducing their risk of falling into fuel poverty.

In the financial year 2021-2022, we helped landlords reduce lifetime energy bills for their tenants by £2.7million. This averaged out as a lifetime saving of £4,400 per property.

Advice and property assessments

Whether you’re looking to discuss your EPC, talk through the various funding options or have your property assessed in depth, we can help. Our free, impartial advice service is funded by the Scottish Government and supported by a network of specialist advisors operating across Scotland.

If a property visit is appropriate, one of our specialist advisors will carry out an assessment and provide you with a tailored report outlining:

  • The current energy demands of your property
  • Recommended improvements
  • The approximate cost of making these improvements
  • Potential fuel bill and carbon savings
  • Any potential income you could make from installing a renewables system
  • The estimated improvement in the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) score

 

Our specialist will talk you through the report, helping you decide what’s right for you and your property. You can also get advice over the phone at a time that suits you – just call us on 0808 808 2282 or request a call back.

You can read case studies of homeowners who've made energy efficiency improvements or installed renewables on the Green Homes Network.

Financial support for landlords

Whether you’re looking to spread the cost of energy efficiency improvements with a loan or to secure payments for energy generated by a renewables system, we can help you work out what funding option is right for you. Have a read through the various options below and call us 0808 808 2282 to find out more.

The Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan is funded by the Scottish Government and open to registered private sector landlords, acting either as an individual or a business that owns privately rented properties.

The loan can be used for a variety of energy efficiency improvements such as insulation, and home renewables systems such as heat pumps. 

Funding can also be used for connections to an approved district heating scheme.

Smart Export Guarantee

Following the closure of the Feed-in Tariff to new applicants in March 2019, the UK Government recognised the need to pay small-scale renewable energy generators for the electricity they export to the grid. The Smart Export Guarantee came into force from 1 January 2020 and is open to homeowners who install, or have already installed, a renewable electricity generating system, such as solar PV.

Meet the minimum energy efficiency standards with our support

The Scottish Government’s Heat in Buildings Bill: consultation sets out its vision for the future of heat in buildings, and the actions it is taking in the buildings sector to deliver its climate change commitments, maximise economic opportunities, and ensure a just transition, including helping to address fuel poverty. The Bill updates both the Energy Efficient Scotland Route Map and the Heat Policy Statement.

Reducing emissions from our homes and buildings is one of the most important things we can do to help end Scotland’s contribution to climate change. The Scottish Government’s vision is that by 2045, Scotland’s homes will be warmer, greener and more energy efficient – including rented properties.

The Scottish Government will work with the private rented sector to introduce minimum standard regulations. The proposals from the consultation propose that by the end of 2028, private landlords will need to meet new minimum energy efficiency standards. The minimum energy efficiency standards proposed are that every privately rented property must have installed a list of straightforward improvements, where appropriate. The current proposed list includes:

  • 270 mm loft insulation
  • cavity wall insulation
  • draught-proofing
  • heating controls
  • 80 mm hot water cylinder insulation
  • suspended floor insulation.

These improvements may be subject to change once the consultation is completed. The final list of improvements will be developed to prioritise those that could have the biggest impact for homes with the lowest amount of cost and disruption.

Lastly, it is proposed that all building owners will need to end their use of polluting heating; this includes heating systems which burn fossil fuels like gas, oil and LPG boilers. These will need to be replaced with clean heating systems - those that don’t produce any greenhouse gas emissions at the point of use. Examples of clean heating systems may include heat pumps, modern electric storage heaters and district heating, though this is not an exhaustive list.

Details of proposed exemptions

The latest Heat in Buildings Bill: consultation does not outline specific exemptions. However, for fairness, the consultation proposes that those who cannot or should not have to meet the Heat in Buildings Standard will be exempt ahead of 2045. Furthermore, it states it will provide extra time for those who need it to meet the Standard or require that people comply with a modified version of the Standard which considers their building’s characteristics or unique circumstances. Lastly, it states that it will make it easy for people to appeal where they feel the requirements are incorrect or unfair.

Get free, expert and impartial advice

If you need to make improvements to your property, now’s the time to start. A private landlord specialist from Home Energy Scotland can talk you through the new standards and help you work out what improvements to prioritise over your whole portfolio. To find out more, call us on 0808 808 2282 or request a call back.