Revealed - why landlords need to be aware of lighting changes

Tue 13 Jul 2021

The government has announced new regulations concerning lighting this autumn, and these changes will have an impact on landlords’ rental properties.

As the new legislations will directly affect landlords, it is a bright idea for landlords to understand these incoming changes and work with an experienced letting agent like Letting Solutions who can ensure landlords are being compliant.

What and why are the changes being introduced?

The motivation behind the new lighting regulations is the government’s fight against climate change. Under the government’s new plans, halogen light bulbs will be banned from September. Fluorescent light bulbs are also being phased out and they will no longer be sold from September 2023.

Government officials say the new regulations will cut 1.26 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year and save consumers an average of £75 a year on energy bills.

Since 2018, the UK began phasing out the sale of higher-energy halogen lightbulbs under EU-wide rules. The new legislation also affects retailers, and they will be unable to sell the majority of halogen bulbs in the UK from September 1 2021.

As halogen bulbs will no longer be sold, this will continue the move to low-energy LED lightbulbs which are already popular in Britain and make up around two-thirds of lights sold. Officials have said that LED lights will account for 85% of all bulbs sold by 2030. The benefits of LED lights are longevity and energy efficiency, they last five times longer than halogen bulbs and produce the same amount of light, by using up to 80% less power.

Under the government’s new plans, there will also be a ban from September on the sale of lighting fixtures with fixed bulbs that cannot be replaced. Instead, these fixtures will have to be thrown away.

Lightbulbs will also carry ‘rescaled’ energy labels on their boxes in an effort to simplify how energy efficiency is shown. Instead of the A+, A++, A+++ ratings, the new scale will now be from A-G.

What can landlords do about the new lighting changes?

As these changes affect household lighting, landlords need to plan to make sure the lighting in rental properties is in line with government regulation.

It would be a wise idea for landlords to start making the change from halogen light bulbs to low-energy light bulbs now. Although high-energy fluorescent light bulbs will not be phased out until 2023, landlords can still start to get rid of this type of lighting in their properties now.

These new changes could be quite overwhelming for landlords and that is where a letting agent like Letting Solutions can be a big help and make sure landlords are on top of things.

We take a proactive approach to letting and offer a tailor-made service. With our assistance, we can make sure that you are meeting the government’s new lighting requirements.

Here at Letting Solutions, West Lothian’s first dedicated lettings agency, we are continuing to operate throughout the pandemic.

You can find out more about our current hours of service and our current ways of working here.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us, even if you are not a current client. You can ring us on 01506 496006 where our team are waiting to help. Or you can email us at: rent@letting-solutions.co.uk.