Oct
20
Written by:
Catherine Marshall
10/20/2008 10:06 AM
It’s one of those unusual situations where the taxman giveth. And if you don’t accept the offer, the taxman may taketh away.
Right now the government will pay you to help cut your future utility bills. It’s called the Ontario Home Energy Audit and Retrofit Rebate Program. The way the program works is that both the federal and provincial governments will each give you a grant for a total of up to $10,000 if you retrofit your house to increase its energy efficiency. So you save a lot of the cost of the retrofit, and in the long run you are ahead because you are saving a lot on heating and cooling your house.
You’d think that people would be all over it, right? However, there is one minor winkle. You have to have a home energy audit done as the first step that tells you which retrofits you should undertake. It does seem bureaucratic, but the government will also give you up to $150 toward the cost of the energy audit.
Well, perhaps it is the bureaucracy of it all – but for some homeowners, the energy audit represents an obstacle to taking advantage of this grant money bonanza.
But another benefit from the home energy audit is materializing. A bill before the Ontario legislature may require all home sellers to have the audit. The Home Energy Rating Act, if passed by Queen's Park, would require anyone selling a house to disclose the results of the home-energy audit to prospective buyers.
So if you have taken up the Home Energy Audit and Retrofit Rebate Program’s offer you are sitting pretty with a rebate on the audit and a good energy efficiency rating partly paid for by the government. If you haven’t, then the government takes money out of your wallet before you can pitch the “For Sale” sign.
According to the Toronto Star, Liberal backbencher Phil McNeely, who introduced the bill, said "I think we've got all-party support for this."
McNeely said homebuyers are looking at energy prices and becoming increasingly concerned about the higher cost of owning a home, not just buying it.
He said efficiency ratings will spur greater demand for new and resale homes that use less energy, ultimately increasing their property value compared with less-efficient homes and pressuring new home builders to go beyond the minimum standards in the building code.
Ken Elsey, president of the Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance, called it "the most significant piece of legislation in years" because it uncovers the true cost of home ownership and will pressure sellers to do efficiency upgrades before they put their property on the market.
"It will also serve as an economic and employment stimulus," said Elsey, referring to the increased demand for energy auditors, retro-fitters and energy-efficient appliances and materials.
The requirement would apply to all newly built homes in 2010, followed in 2011 by detached, semi-detached and multi-unit residential buildings put on the market for resale. ~ Catherine Marshall
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