Energy Performance Certificates

pineapple

I am about to try selling my home myself.
I know HIPs are no longer required. But do I still need an EPC? Anyone any experience of these?

tbs624

pineapple wrote: »

I am about to try selling my home myself.
I know HIPs are no longer required. But do I still need an EPC? Anyone any experience of these?

yes ,you do still need an EPC: it's as the result of a European Directive that all properties are required to have one for renting/selling. The Certificates are very pretty but few buyers/tenants express much interest in them. Go for the cheapest Interestingly, a sellers one is valid for 3 years but a LLs one is valid for 10, with no requirement on either vendor or LL to make any improvements.

Cannon_Fodder

Have seen EA ads, offering to do them for free...

obviously don't base your entire EA choice on the EPC, but maybe an EPC thrown-in could sweeten a deal...

clutton_2

tell the EPC guy that you are a landlord.. nowhere on the Certificate does it say whether you are or not....

complete waste of time and money.....

glen_moranjie

IMO these are a good idea, poorly implemented. Pull up a chair and let me share my views.
We have a 1960's 2/3 bedroom dormer bungalow. I take insulation seriously, and this house has cavity wall Insulation, UPVC double glazing, Modern condensing boiler with room stats and thermostatic rad valves, low energy bulbs, yada, yada, yada. A few years ago we had the underside of our roof insulated with Polyurethane Spray Foam Insulation, this cost £2,900 pounds. This is expensive but brilliant. Instantly our huge loft became quiet, dust free and incredibly well insulated. The end result of all this insulation (and money spent) was a 110m2 property that last year cost us approx £500 for all heating and hot water. I should note we are retired and home most of the day. We are careful but we keep warm and during the heating season our central heating is on from 06;15am until 22;00. I would also mention after a hard frost or a decent snowfall the frost/snow will still be on our roof when roofs on properties either side of us are completely clear. Clear evidence of heat loss thru the roof.
Ok, more about the EPC. The assessor will visit with their checklist and note the boiler type/make, count how many energy saving bulbs you have, note the presence/absence of cavity wall insulation, double glazing, thermostatic rad valves etc etc. They will then unfold their high tech extending ladder and stick their heads up into your loft to note your level of loft insulation.
The assessor will then input their findings into a software package supplied by an external company.
So I received my EPC certificate to find our property graded borderline 'E' with a current rating of 57. Grades are A - G (A best - G worst) The heating costs were rated at £828.00 per year ( I paid £43.00 a month last year and it was about spot on, total £516,00.
Anyway time to cut this short, I can see your eyes glazing over. I suggested to the assessor this was nonsense, they suggested I speak to the energy company whose software they use.
After a 'gentlemans' discussion with the representative of the said company he admitted that our house was not 'normal' and there was no provision in the software to reflect the extra roof insulation I had installed. I pointed out that this may have the effect of 'persuading' a prudent buyer (I am such) to bypass our house and buy next door where they pay double our heating costs. Totally not the 'green' result that this legislation was designed to encourage.
So this nonsense cost us £50.00 + vat, bears no relation to the actual 'green' performance of the property and instead of enticing potential buyers into a 'green' easy to keep warm, cheap to heat property it may well drive them away. I despair.

Bananamana

take heart in the fact that 95% of people don't even look at it

clutton_2

a property i own has such low bedroom ceilings that the whole of the first floor has been categorised as "roof rooms" (ie REALLY low ratings) and it has been deemed as needing cavity wall insulation when it is an early victorian solid stone wall construction.....

this is in spite of the fact that low ceilings mean less space to heat.. = low energy costs......

pointless and ridiculous

E8Es

I'm an energy surveyor & felt I had to defend our industry. Im afraid I think our industry is similar to many others with regards to the old saying you pay for what you get.
Don't get me wrong I appreciate a bargain so if you want to tick the legal box then pay £30-40 for your EPC. If you want a decent job done then ensure you research your energy assessor. You can use the official goverment home condition register,I recommend finding your local energy surveyor & expect to pay between £55-70 if you want a professional survey.
If you pay less then the surveyor will most likely be working for a 3rd party & in a rush.

"take heart in the fact that 95% of people don't even look at it"

Well all I can say to that is your quote above is that 99% of statistics are made up on the spot :-)

Bananamana

E8Es wrote: »

I'm an energy surveyor & felt I had to defend our industry. Im afraid I think our industry is similar to many others with regards to the old saying you pay for what you get.
Don't get me wrong I appreciate a bargain so if you want to tick the legal box then pay £30-40 for your EPC. If you want a decent job done then ensure you research your energy assessor. You can use the official goverment home condition register,I recommend finding your local energy surveyor & expect to pay between £55-70 if you want a professional survey.
If you pay less then the surveyor will most likely be working for a 3rd party & in a rush.

"take heart in the fact that 95% of people don't even look at it"

Well all I can say to that is your quote above is that 99% of statistics are made up on the spot :-)

Fair comment.

If you can show me that a "professional" certificate will actually increase the result of some of the examples given above AND then that then goes on to impact on a decision to buy a property then fair enough.

If not then.....

sonastin

Perhaps someone could explain why every single EPC recommends solar panels as the default expensive improvement. I would expect improving a property's insulation would be a more realistic / feasible change to make to improve its energy performance but I've never seen that as a recommendation...

(Oh yeah, does this put me in the 5% that actually reads them?!)

tbs624

E8Es wrote: »

I'm an energy surveyor & felt I had to defend our industry. Im afraid I think our industry is similar to many others with regards to the old saying you pay for what you get.
Don't get me wrong I appreciate a bargain so if you want to tick the legal box then pay £30-40 for your EPC. If you want a decent job done then ensure you research your energy assessor. You can use the official goverment home condition register,I recommend finding your local energy surveyor & expect to pay between £55-70 if you want a professional survey.
If you pay less then the surveyor will most likely be working for a 3rd party & in a rush.

Or a one/two man band who have discovered that they get more work by undercutting other firms. The last property on which I had an EPC done I paid 45 quid to a vey nice chap who duly produced his pretty certificate, showing that the property was better "rated" than the majority on the road. However, any T or potential buyer could see that the property was double glazed, well insulated, and have asked to see the utility bills for the past couple of years, and managed to glean more useful information.

E8Es wrote: »

"take heart in the fact that 95% of people don't even look at it"
Well all I can say to that is your quote above is that 99% of statistics are made up on the spot :-)

It's unlikely that a buyer or T will have the choice of two properties, both of which are identical, bar the content of their shiny EPCs.

The usual stuff that is the deal breaker is "how far to work/kids' schools, proximity of shops/public transport and can we fit that massive wardrobe in the master bedroom"

It's a nonsense.The majority of those who defend them are those who have forked out several grand to retrain as a DEA:D