HOW green is your house? If you don’t know you will do soon, as of Robinson & Jackson Estate Agencies explains.

When you’re an atheist like me, or best an agnostic, it’s in your nature to regard all religions with some suspicion and/or cynicism as most, in our opinion, are a way for the establishment to control the masses mainly by intimidation, superstition and fear.

We now have a new religion on the block called global warming which among the politically correct, educated classes has taken over from God as the main force of retribution for decadence and waste as everything from flood to tempest and drought are allegedly caused by it even though these have been around since the beginning of time – as has climate change.

The media has been finally converted to this and politicians of all persuasions have jumped on the bandwagon and are following the new evangelists of the Green Party as surely as the Romans converted to Christianity and traded in their full set of rather jolly gods for a comparatively dull alternative.

I have to admit to being a reluctant disciple of this new religion as from June 1, I and many other estate agents, surveyors and property professionals, are being sent round to every property for sale to judge how energy efficient it is.

Initially the owners of energy-inefficient homes will not suffer any penalties for their sins and potential purchasers won’t care what the energy rating is because they have bigger priorities when buying a home. So why is this huge and expensive project being done?

Unlike most religions this one has a collection plate if you don’t attend the worship.

All this information is going in to a huge database so although there won’t be any effect on the value of your home, once the local councils get hold of this information – and after about seven years they will have information on virtually every house – they will have the power in the name of the great god global warming to impose penalties of higher council taxes on those who don’t build or insulate their homes to standards which will be difficult and expensive to achieve on our older and larger properties.

In taking extra money from us they will be blessed for doing so and be sure of a place in Green Heaven – I smell hypocrisy and greed which my industry is too often accused of.

If God and global warming didn’t exist some would choose to invent them.

Ron Kennor is general manager of Robinson & Jackson Estate Agencies. He can be contacted on 020 8850 7788.