HIPS on rented property coming in October

beingjdc

nykmedia wrote: »

Am I to assume this is just English legislation or does it involve everyone else as well?

I believe it's EU regulation, so eventually everyone, one way or another.

bing0

sooz wrote: »

Even when he said storage heater, you should have run screaming . They still use electricity, but store it badly, and never produce enough heat when you need them. Plus, you need to be psychic to work out if you will be cold tomorrow.

I feel sorry for anyone with storage heaters,especially if they are on low income/benefits.Its bad enough paying more than you have to when you can afford it,it must be hell if this is your only source of heating.

Is it not possible to apply for a grant in this situation ?

Frugaldom

sooz wrote: »

4th Jan 2009 for Scotland

I can't see how it will affect anyone, apologies if it's obvious and I'm missing the point. The landlord pays a company to produce an energy performance certificate - £60ish has been suggested - and then what? Is that it? No obligation to carry out improvements, so long as they provide a certificate to say how good or how bad a house is, gauged on how efficient it is with regards to CO2 emissions? We have compulsory landlord registration (costs about £55 I think) in Scotland and they can't 'police' that, how, on earth, are they going to make something like a compulsary EPC work?

I feel sorry for anyone with storage heaters,especially if they are on low income/benefits.Its bad enough paying more than you have to when you can afford it,it must be hell if this is your only source of heating.

Is it not possible to apply for a grant in this situation ?

We can't apply for grants when living in rented houses, as far as I am aware, but we can switch off the storage heaters.

sooz

nykmedia wrote: »

I can't see how it will affect anyone, apologies if it's obvious and I'm missing the point. The landlord pays a company to produce an energy performance certificate - £60ish has been suggested - and then what? Is that it? No obligation to carry out improvements, so long as they provide a certificate to say how good or how bad a house is, gauged on how efficient it is with regards to CO2 emissions? We have compulsory landlord registration (costs about £55 I think) in Scotland and they can't 'police' that, how, on earth, are they going to make something like a compulsary EPC work?

No - you have not missed the point at all

LL pays a company £60 or more, & in return gets a colourful piece of paper valid for 10 years. There is no requirement to upgrade, nor even to get a new certificate if you do make any upgrades.

And the tenants get to see a piece of paper, which tells them if the property has double glazing & gas central heating or paper windows & a single ancient electric fire. Naturally, without this colourful piece of paper, the tenant would be totally in the dark as to whether the property would be easy to heat or not

bristol_pilot

Will it be tax-deductible like other landlord expenses?

Frugaldom

sooz wrote: »

No - you have not missed the point at all

LL pays a company £60 or more, & in return gets a colourful piece of paper valid for 10 years. There is no requirement to upgrade, nor even to get a new certificate if you do make any upgrades.

And the tenants get to see a piece of paper, which tells them if the property has double glazing & gas central heating or paper windows & a single ancient electric fire. Naturally, without this colourful piece of paper, the tenant would be totally in the dark as to whether the property would be easy to heat or not

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: I just look at the size of the building and if it's got no central heating, it's gonna be tough!

SingleSue

Ah for the days of when I was renting.....

No central heating, no double glazing, a cooker and a sink for a kitchen but it was ours for the length of our contract and boy did we love it, even when the ceiling fell down outside the loo and the property was condemned. We even loved the ice forming on the inside of the windows, the damp, the going to bed wearing 6 layers and a woolly hat and scarf in the winter.

We actually improved the property while we were there (2 years), we put in a fitted kitchen (cost us £50, we knew someone in the trade) got a new fridge (with freezer box) when the one in there went bang and decorated throughout, laid new carpets, cheap end bits mind (it hadn't been decorated for years before that, smoke stains had nothing on the flat when we moved in!) and fixed small plumbing issues all with permission and unlike people today, we actually received not only our deposit back but also £300 for improvements to the flat!

We didn't have certificates to satisfy us of the standards of the gas or anything else for that matter.

We loved our flat and the life away from the parents it gave us.....life was so much simpler in those days (1988-1990) :rotfl:

Bungarm2001

bing0 wrote: »

Here in Dorset,many trained energy assessors are charging £40.00 (down from £100.00) for their part of the HIP....the last thing any of them are doing is gaining from the situaion....just thought I'd mention that !

So why are they doing it then? or is your post missing a tongue-in-cheek icon??

lynzpower

You really don't need an EPC to know that electric room heaters & immersion heaters are expensive to run.

I disagree. In the flat I had, it had brand new storage heaters and a new-style convection (?) boiler.

It was tremendously nifty system, and I paid only 35 per month for ALL power ( no gas in property) that was cooking/ water heating/ room heating. when other MSErs were paying 60 quid for thier power on similar flats ( I started a thread to check whether I was paying too much) .

I think they are a great idea. Why should renters not have the same choices on hjow to conserve electricity and thier costs, that owners do?

david29dpo

I dont think tenants have anything to worry about. No LL in there right mind will add it to the rent, whats £50 over a year anyway? The EPC will give tenants a choose.