Canada’s push to require energy efficiency audits for houses before they’re listed for sale is drawing flak from the real estate sector, even if it’s a basic building block for the amped-up energy efficiency effort the country needs to pursue.
The push for “time-of-sale labelling” is part of Ottawa’s plan to hit net-zero emissions for all buildings in Canada by 2050, the Globe and Mail reports.
“It’s just an obvious thing to do, given that we have to retrofit basically all of our buildings by 2050, if not before,” Efficiency Canada Policy Director Brendan Haley told the Globe, adding that momentum toward mandatory labelling had “really stalled for a while” before starting to grow again.
But critics say the requirement will constrain an already tight housing market. “Mandating labelling at the time of sale is, quite frankly, a crazy thing to do in the middle of a historic housing-affordability crisis,” said Matthew Thornton, vice-president of public affairs and communications for the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA).
While the new rule would create an extra step for anyone trying to sell a home, the experience so far suggests the end result would make it worth their while.
“If such initiatives in other countries are any indication, homeowners would have to post their property’s energy efficiency rating on their listing. International research shows that higher energy performance scores are correlated with increased property values,” the Globe writes.
Leave a Reply