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Landlords face big fines if they don’t meet the latest rental legislation and have an Energy Performance Certificate drawn up for their properties.

The warning comes from EPC provider CR Energy; managing director Mark Glynn says although Trading Standards has to date shown some leniency with fines so far, now that the deadline has passed they will begin to police the energy assessment of all properties more stringently and issue fines: "This means that landlords with larger property portfolios could be hit hard," he says.

“And it is not just the risk of a fine, which should lead people to act. There will be an inevitable surge in instruction levels, which could lead to delays in the provision of EPCs. October 2008 saw a huge influx of work as a result of the deadline for lettings and Social Housing EPCs, which stretched energy assessors across the country and led to long delays.

“In this climate properties need to be marketed quickly and every day lost waiting for an EPC to be produced will impact on how quickly properties can be sold or let."

Simply, if you are a landlord, you need to have everything in order. Cutting through the red tape and the bureaucracy of renting might seem like a pain in the neck, but it's better than facing hefty fines, which will eat into your profits and could even put your ability to pay the mortgage act risk.

Landlords must always have their eyes open – it's not just a part-time job, it's something you have to work at it all the time. But if you do the right things, and tick the right boxes, then you should be able to continue to make a healthy profit from renting out your property.

SOURCE: CR Energy, 14/04/09

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