Landlords - how rising energy bills with affect your tenants.
A recent Lifestyle Survey found that 66% of respondents said their cost of living had gone up in the last month, with 79% attributing this to higher gas and electricity bills.. Greater London Properties provide some easy advice on what you can do now to help your future tenants..
One of the main questions asked by tenants at the moment is how energy prices may affect their costs of living. With rents high in Central London, it’s a natural concern for our tenants.
A recent Lifestyle Survey found that 66% of respondents said their cost of living had gone up in the last month, with 79% attributing this to higher gas and electricity bills - and could potentially be the difference between your tenants paying the rent or falling into arrears.
On the 1st April, the energy price cap increase will add £693 on average to bills in 2022, this is a rise of 54% which will affect over 75% of households across the UK. Obvious concerns from tenants are the type of energy supply offered in properties and how efficient these actually are.
Pre-payment meters will see a larger increase of £708 (taking it to £2017 per year) and with energy efficiency already high on the government agenda, its advisable to move away from carbon-based forms of production towards heat pumps and alternative options.
Our Advice To Our Landlords?
Landlords will need to start investing to increase your energy performance certificate ratings to a minimum rating of C on all new and existing tenancies by 2028, therefore taking steps now will spread your costs and help save money during any void periods.
Our Advice to Our Tenants?
Our priority is to ensure our tenants can afford their rents and cost of living therefore our team are already educating their applicants during viewings and at the offer stage so they are fully aware of how the energy increase will affect them directly. There are plenty of steps that can be made to help reduce the impact of the price rises from installing smart meters to researching the very best deals out there – check out this really useful website.
We would be happy to offer advice on other ways you can help the energy performance of your property in order to ensure it is compliant in the future. Please get in touch with a member of our Greater London Properties team today on 0207 113 1066.
Warm Regards
Kate Hill