Instead of energy labels, real estate buyers want billing statements

Prague - People buying property consider energy performance certificates, the so-called energy labels, to be unnecessary bureaucracy. They claim that the real energy costs will be better illustrated by bills from the past few months. This was stated today by representatives of real estate agencies that were contacted by ČTK.
    Sellers view energy labels as a necessary evil that unnecessarily increases the costs of selling. There is also not enormous interest in energy labels from buyers, said the commercial director of the real estate agency Sting, Michal Kresta. "The seller is obliged to present the label even when selling, for example, a 40-year-old family house intended for renovation. In such cases, the buyer does not utilize the label in any way," he pointed out.
    Peter Višňovský, the director of the real estate agency Lexxus, stated that property owners consider energy labels to be an unnecessary financial burden. "Only a few owners would voluntarily have one produced," claims Višňovský. He believes that buyers are much more interested in the actual costs associated with the operation of the property.
    "For buyers or tenants, the content of the energy label has no informative power regarding the expected financial costs for energy. Thus, buyers and tenants are still more interested in documents that certify actual operating costs, such as bills, apartment records, and similar," pointed out Jiří Lemberka, director of the legal department at Maxima Reality.
    It is precisely these initial experiences that the Ministry of Industry and Trade has reacted to, proposing that in the case of selling or renting a building, it should be possible to replace energy labels with bills for electricity, gas, and heat for the past three years.
    Representatives of real estate agencies have long been calling for this change. "I certainly welcome this change. From the very beginning of the validity of this law, I have been saying that all the buyer wants to know are the energy costs. I am glad that in this case, common sense has finally prevailed," said Milan Zavadil, general director of M&M Reality.
    However, Kresta from RK Sting warns that the change is still only being considered and thus the obligation to have an energy label produced still applies. "However, the change would save the sellers money," he added.
    On the contrary, for the commercial and operational director of Re/Max Czech Republic, Hanuš Němeček, the ministry's effort is surprising. "I personally do not believe that replacing energy performance certificates with energy bills is the best solution. The energy performance certificate provides information about the overall condition of the building, which simple energy invoices cannot demonstrate," he stated, adding that this concerns the sale of houses. "In the case of selling an apartment, on the contrary, energy invoices should be sufficient," he added.
    According to Luděk Lošťák, director of Comfort Space, a company that deals with the issuance of labels, it is important to set clear parameters to avoid further ambiguities. "We have been in such a situation practically since the beginning of the year. The change in regulations, the adjustment of the appearance of the certificates, and the constant new information from the government agencies significantly complicate the situation for all parties involved," he noted.
    However, according to him, the proposed change could face opposition in Brussels. “The problem, however, lies with the EU, which has declared this obligation for all member states. If the Czech Republic wanted to enforce significant exceptions, these exceptions would likely have to be approved by the European Commission, which I personally consider unlikely,” warned Lošťák.
    Energy labels have been mandatory since January 1 for all new buildings or during renovations and sales of apartments. Builders, property owners, or owners' associations are responsible for ensuring them. In the case of renting parts of buildings, the new obligation has been in effect since 2016. Existing buildings are to gradually obtain labels from 2015 to 2019.