Landlords could have to start keeping a digital logbook to demonstrate their compliance with energy efficiency measures.
Described as 'a companion app for your home' Digital Building Logbooks (DBL) are already being used for home buying and selling by some firms looking to improve the conveyancing process. The secure, online tool for homeowners contains key documentation, certification, reports, surveys and other property information needed to manage a property through the lifecycle of ownership.
There are now discussions around making EPC information more accessible by linking it to a logbook containing more detailed information about the building and plans. The government has been funding a trial of logbooks with EPC and retrofit data integrated in them and connected to data sources such as the EPC register and the Trustmark register of certified installers.
EPCs could be linked to logbooks that hold information about the property, any changes that have been made, and plans for future improvements, according to the Residential Logbook Association (RLBA). It says these could soon be dynamically linked to the HM Land Registry, the Landlord Register and local authority licensing systems.
RLBA chair Nigel Walley (pictured right) tells LandlordZONE that logbooks are now compulsory in France and Belgium for all new build property and all properties that have had a significant upgrade that has improved the EPC. “It’s part of the lodgement requirement for energy efficiency work,” he adds. “We are currently talking to the incoming Labour administration about doing the same in the UK.”
Walley explains that logbooks are simply asset management tools and that setting them up will be a “tidying up exercise” for most landlords. “If landlords have all the documentation they need, it’s only about a 30-minute job to load this up in a logbook.”
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