Since the beginning of October, everyone has been able to find out the EPC label of a building via a website. The Flemish government mainly introduced this so that potential buyers could check the EPCs on real estate websites.
The measure was therefore “well-intentioned and noble”, said Flemish Minister of Energy Zuhal Demir (N-VA) in a communiqué today. In addition, not all information from the EPC could be consulted, security was built in so that search robots could not collect the information and the initiative received the green light from the Flemish Supervisory Commission, the privacy watchdog.
Privacy expert Matthias Dobbelaere-Welvaert also said in a response to De Morgen that he had no problem with this specific measure. “The EPC label is part of the condition of the building, so you cannot derive any further personal data of the residents from it.” However, he also said he would remain vigilant, because “the risk is that this could lead to more.”
Also read
Thanks to the new tool, you and anyone who knows your address can consult your EPC label. But really everyone
Demir now also confirms that “there was a fear that a slippery slope would be followed in which more and more information would be shared publicly.” According to the minister, concerns have now arisen about possible “perverse side effects so that the information would not be used for the right purposes and would be publicly abused as a status symbol, which it is not.” About that ‘status symbol’, Lotte Ringoot of the Flemish Energy and Climate Agency told De Morgen that the online tool “can motivate people to see how well you are doing compared to the rest of the street”, although that “is not the main goal”.
To rule out these perverse effects, the tool has been offline for several weeks. The regulations that regulated public access were abolished.
It remains mandatory to state the energy score or the EPC label when you sell or rent a building. When transferring a building with poor energy performance, it must also be stated that the building is subject to a renovation obligation.
Also read
2023-12-22 19:32:49
#EPC #labels #longer #consulted #online #fear #perverse #side #effects
