Clause 1 - Meaning of ``residential property''and other expressions
Homes Bill
12:00 pm
Mr Don Foster (Bath, Liberal Democrat)
We come to the important issue of energy efficiency. In addition to speaking to my amendments, I shall comment on amendments Nos. 27 and 28, tabled by the Conservative Party. I shall attempt to be brief, but the issue is important, so I hope that the Committee will not mind if I detain it long enough to cover some of the complex matters that arising from the amendments.
Amendment No. 51 provides a definition of energy efficiency, which fits in with the other definitions of the terms in the legislation. Amendment No. 23 would add a requirement to include an energy efficiency report in the list of items included in the seller's pack. Amendment No. 24 would add the energy efficiency report to those items that may be specified by regulation; it would also require that a potential buyer should be told what needs to be done to improve the energy efficiency of the property and why it would be financially advantageous to carry out such work. We hope that it will be possible to show individuals that they can make enormous financial gains by acting on the energy efficiency proposals contained in such a report. We also hope to persuade them that not only will they benefit, but everyone else will as well.
The sort of home energy efficiency report that I propose is a relatively simple matter. I have an example that shows the current energy rating and estimated running costs of a typical home. The report would list energy efficiency measures currently installed, such as double glazing or good heating control; it would then make a series of recommendations tailor-made for the property and detail the cost to its prospective owner of such measures being installed, the annual savings and, crucially, the estimated payback time. From that information, it would be possible for the prospective home buyer to have a clear idea of the annual financial benefits and the initial outlay. Amendment No. 25 is a technical amendment required to alter numbering and lettering.
New clause 4 and new schedule 1 are different from the other amendments, which would amend the contents of the seller's pack. There will be a period before the introduction of the seller's pack and because 1.5 million transactions involving homes being bought and sold take place each year, it would clearly be sensible to have in place measures to ensure that energy audits took place in the interim. New clause 4 empowers the Secretary of State to bring into effect new schedule 1, which would comprise the interim measure.
In Committee, such matters are often highly controversial, but on this occasion, I am delighted to say that there should be no controversy, given that the measures I propose have, in one form or another, been supported by bodies as diverse as the Council of Mortgage Lenders, Friends of the Earth, the Association for the Conservation of Energy, the Conservative party, the Government and the Liberal Democrats. The vast majority of Members of Parliament have supported similar measures, with the notable and sad exception of the right hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Mr. Forth).
Such proposals have a long history. In May 1984, Lord Walker of Worcester—then Peter Walker, Secretary of State for Energy—proposed that mortgage companies should include energy efficiency advice in their required surveys. The Select Committee on Energy concluded in 1989 that it
believed that a standard, uniform and mandatory labelling system for appliances and domestic buildings should be introduced.
That statement was made in paragraph 115 of its report ``Energy Policy Implications of the Greenhouse Effect''. In 1993, in paragraph 102 of its report on energy efficiency in buildings, the Environment Select Committee recommended that
the Government consider a mandatory scheme for home energy labels, to be introduced at the point of sale.
I am delighted to see the Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin), in his place and I look forward to our deliberations over the coming weeks. He, too, has indicated his views on this subject. In 1997-98, before the strictures of being a Minister were placed upon him, he signalled his support for such measures when he signed early-day motion 165, in which he stated his belief that
houses should be rated for energy efficiency
and that
an excellent time to achieve this desirable end is at the point of sale.
We clearly have his support.
In 1997, when she was Energy Minister, the current Under-Secretary of State for Social Security, the hon. Member for Wallasey (Angela Eagle), spoke to the fifth annual national homes energy rating conference. Her words were particularly apposite, as I shall show. She said:
I support energy rating...the question from where I stand is: Is there is a viable voluntary which would ensure that all mortgage lenders provided tailored, reliable energy efficiency advice along with a rating and estimates of energy costs savings and the likely cost of improvement measures. Or having worked on this for several years to no significant effect, is legislation the only option?
Shortly thereafter, the hon. Lady made clear which of those options to go for. The Government of which she is a member supported the Energy Efficiency Bill proposed by my hon. Friend the Member for Torridge and West Devon (Mr. Burnett), from which many of these measures are taken.