Very recently I talked about the serious ‘clash of interest’ between developers and mortgage institutions; my point then was that the mortgage houses find it difficult to appreciate the essence of energy-efficiency in constructing buildings while the former strongly desire ‘green’ houses. The good news is that many more organizations and government institutions are beginning to tow the line of ‘energy-efficiency’ crusaders.
The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) is one of such bodies – a very important one at that. ARLA is in the forefront of the crusade for highly energy-efficient houses. The recent catastrophes in many parts of the world have served as a warning call to governments and people all over the world to reduce carbon emission and adopt greener and cleaner energy sources.
The ARLA has revealed a number of ways that landlords can take advantage of the government’s new ‘Green Deal’ initiative. Apart from new developers, there seem to be a real challenge for home owners with buildings as old as 10 years and beyond.
The association advises that re-fitting or installing state-of-the-art loft and floor insulation and cavity walls would go a long way in helping to conserve energy – especially in the cold winter months. Experts in the ARLA also recommend that lagging should be installed around water pipes and boilers to minimize heat loss.
UK landlords are not insulated from the global calamities caused by the rising warmth in the atmosphere. I keep wandering what would happen to a place like Central London if the Thames River rise dramatically; the disaster would be phenomenal as seen in the movie – Flood. This is indeed a wake-up call for all existing landlords and would-be landlords to make energy efficiency a priority when building
