Greener Incentives Needed to Reduce Carbon Emission

Yesterday, a property lobby group, British Property Federation (BPF) claimed that the Government’s plan to reduce the amount of carbon emissions from offices and shops will not succeed unless further green incentives are introduced. The British Property Federation believes that the real estate sector is the one, which allows for easy reduction of carbon emissions, however, it requires that the Government promotes tight cooperation between tenants and landlords. Liz Peace, who takes the post of the chief executive at BPF and the group’s members, including Segro, Land Securities, British Land, Legal & General, and Hammerson claimed that landlords have already faced high upfront costs as they have been improving the energy efficiency of their properties without any personal benefits. Members of the British Property Federation are determined that the Government has to revise the taxation system so that both, landlords and tenants can benefit from greener buildings. Unfortunately, the UK Government ignored the fact that the majority of landlords tend to rent their properties out and cannot simply walk into the rented property and turn the lights off. This fact clearly indicates that the responsibility for keeping properties green is split between the landlord and the tenant. Another problem, which needs to be addressed, is the system of energy performance certificates, which is currently in use. It provides authorities with the theoretical data on the carbon emissions, but does not measure its actual amount. The British Property Federation calls for the use of display energy certificates (DECs) and wants them installed even in private properties. At present, DECs are only used in public buildings of more than 1,000 square meters.