Scottish energy policy must fairly provide for rural consumers living in some of the country’s lowest standard homes, says OFTEC in its response to the recent ‘Energy Efficient Scotland: Improving energy efficiency in owner occupied homes’ consultation.
Proposals outlined in the government document include the introduction of a legally binding standard to ensure all homes in Scotland meet Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating C at point of sale or major renovation from 2024.
If a seller is unable to bring their home up to standard before sale, the responsibility would fall on the buyer to do so within a specific timeframe, proposed to be 12 months, or face a fine.
OFTEC CEO Paul Rose said: “OFTEC strongly backs a ‘fabric first’ approach to energy efficiency and agrees that EPC Band C is a realistic target for most properties. However, those homes with the lowest EPC ratings, many of which are in rural off-gas grid areas, would need considerable investment to bring them up to the proposed standard.
“A deep retrofit of this kind could easily cost anywhere between £20,000 to £60,000. So, when you consider that the least efficient homes are often owned by those on low to middle incomes with little or no savings to draw on, it’s difficult to see how these households could possibly meet the expected costs.
“More time is needed before a binding target is introduced, and more robust support measures put in place, to prevent many rural homeowners being unfairly penalised by these measures.”
OFTEC was also concerned that using point of sale as a trigger point to meet the proposed standard could lead sellers to adopt the lowest cost rather than best solution, just to achieve a sale. As a result, it said, standards could be undermined.
Paul added: “Extensive independent research shows that changing the fuel rather than changing the appliance is the most cost-effective way for both consumers and government to decarbonise heat from oil using homes. We are confident that with the right policy support, a 100% fossil-free liquid fuel could be in use by 2035, ten years ahead of Scotland’s net zero target.”