The landlords who need to meet 'green' deadline

WEST Midlands landlords have been warned that they must go green under new laws or they won't be able to rent out their homes.

If they do not improve their properties' energy efficiency, says local energy expert Ron Fox, up to one in ten buy-to-let homes will be ineligible to be let in five years' time.
Ron, who runs Staffordshire-based green energy company Noreus, said that owners won't be allowed to rent out properties with the two lowest efficiency ratings of F and G under new laws coming into operation in April 2018.

Also, from 2016, landlords cannot refuse tenants' "reasonable" requests for green measures, such as improvements to insulation.

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British Gas profits boosted by colder weather ?

British Gas has reported a rise in profits for 2012 after colder weather led to people using more gas.

Profits from its residential energy supply arm rose 11% from a year earlier to £606m. It said gas consumption had risen by 12%.

But there has been some criticism that the company increased its prices in November when profits were rising.

Centrica, which owns British Gas, reported an adjusted operating profit of £2.7bn for 2012, up 14% from 2011.

Centrica chief executive Sam Laidlaw told the BBC that the firm's profit margins per household "actually went down", adding that the company had made just under £50 profit per customer household.

"A 5% margin on the business is the sort of margin we require" to make investments in new sources of energy, he added.

Centrica's dividends to shareholders have risen 6% and the company is also returning £500m to them.

Profits were up 16% to £312m at British Gas' residential services unit, which covers services such as boiler repairs.

Audrey Gallacher, the director of energy at Consumer Focus, said: "Perhaps we should not be surprised to see higher profits after a cold winter and with the prospect of significant investment in our energy infrastructure.

"But this announcement comes after more price rises last year, record numbers in fuel poverty and not long after the energy regulator warned of higher still energy prices for the foreseeable future," she added.



Cheapest tariff

British Gas raised its gas and electricity prices by 6% in November, which Mr Laidlaw stressed was "lower than any of our competitors".


All of the big six energy suppliers raised prices this winter, prompting Prime Minister David Cameron to step in and say he was going to force them to put customers on their cheapest tariffs.

Energy regulator Ofgem provided details of its plan last week, which will also limit the number of tariffs that suppliers can offer and force them to make bills clearer.



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Energy watchdog Ofgem chief warns of bill rises

Consumers are being warned they face higher energy bills as the UK becomes more reliant on energy imports.

In a speech, Ofgem chief executive Alistair Buchanan will say that falls in Britain's power production capacity are likely to lead to more energy imports and customers paying more.

The energy watchdog predicts power station closures could mean a 10% fall in capacity by April alone.

Mr Buchanan has said the UK needs more gas supplies to fill the shortfall.

His warning comes as older power stations close and renewable energy is still growing.

Mr Buchanan added that it was very important to resolve "leaky homes" and become more energy efficient in order to avoid the approaching "near crisis".

He is stepping down as Ofgem chief executive later this year.

Analysts said there was little chance of the UK running out of gas.

"We must not fear," said Ashton Berkhauer, the deputy chair of Energy Forecaster, which gives companies advice on their energy bills.

"The UK is very well connected. We have a number of different inter-connectors based all around the country as well as huge import facilities."

However, he added that both consumers and businesses "need to make sure they are not using more than they need to".

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