According to the data made available by the Center of Registers, such documents have so far been obtained for less than 0.5 percent of properties across Lithuania, the Lietuvos Žinios daily reports.
“Those willing to sell buildings will waste time and suffer additional costs since they will have to turn to energy efficiency certification experts,” Marius Strackaitis, the president of the Lithuanian Chamber of Notaries, told the daily. According to him, the new regulations make no sense and the association will notify the government about imperfections of legislation.
Giedrius Bagočiūnas, CEO of property agency Apus Turtas, told the daily that the new regulations would definitely cause misunderstandings. Moreover, certification costs might be passed on to the buyers.
“It [the certificate] is necessary for new buildings. The buyers have to be aware of that so that they can compare several projects in terms of energy efficiency, since there are no heating bills to speak of. Those buying housing in an existing building are more concerned about the heating bills than about the certificate. And these bills can actually be seen,” Bagočiūnas said.
It costs between 200 and 400 litas (EUR 115.9) and takes three to four days to measure energy efficiency of an individual apartment in a block of flats.
