New rules for BER

Ratings now have to be prominently displayed on advertisements and For Sale signs, writes Trish Dromey

LOCATION, size and price are always going to be the key deciding factors for house buyers, but updated regulations requiring Building Energy Ratings (BER) to be shown on all property advertisements means that energy performance is now likely to have some influence in buyers’ calculations.

Sellers have been obliged to have a Building Energy Rating - typically costing €100-200 each - on their property since January 2009 — but these were generally not conducted or produced until the sale was about to conclude.