Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether owners of self-catering holiday accommodation will be eligible for support from the Local Restrictions Support Grant scheme.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) of up to £3,000 per four-week period is available to all businesses in England that have been required to close due to local and national restrictions.
In order to qualify for this grant, businesses must be part of the business rate system. Therefore, businesses that manage accommodation remotely must be the eligible business rate payer for that hereditament in order to receive a grant through the Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) scheme.
The Local Restrictions Support Grant (Open) is a discretionary fund and local authorities are free to determine which businesses to support.
The Devolved Administrations are responsible for the administration of support schemes in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to encourage landlords of privately rented homes to increase the energy efficiency of their properties.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Since April 2020, all privately rented homes in England and Wales are required to meet a minimum energy efficiency standard of EPC band E. The Department is currently consulting on raising the minimum energy efficiency standards for privately rented homes in England and Wales to EPC band C. Under the Government’s recommended option, landlords would be required to reach EPC Band C for new tenancies from 1 April 2025 and all tenancies by 1 April 2028.
Landlords in England are encouraged to make use of the £2 billion Green Homes Grant funding scheme to improve their property stock to EPC Band C. Under this scheme, homeowners and landlords can receive at least two thirds of the cost of upgrading the energy performance of their homes up to a contribution of £5,000.
The consultation on improving the energy performance of privately rented homes can be accessed on GOV.UK?at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/improving-the-energy-performance-of-privately-rented-homes and will remain open until 30 December 2020.