EPC Certificate Query?

ComicGeek

But why spend even £50 on it, when very few people will actually look at it let alone base their decision on it. Waste of money in my opinion, and that's as someone accredited to undertake them. I didn't even update mine when we put our house on the market even though it would only have cost me less than £10... and we had installed double glazing, upgrading boiler & heating controls, insulated the loft, installed LED lighting, installed photovoltaic panels etc.....


£50 to replace blown bulbs and buy some touch up paint would be much better to give a good 1st impression.

ComicGeek

Quizzical_Squirrel wrote: »

Have you made any substantial changes that would affect the EPC ratings? E.g. New boiler?

If so, the future buyer's solicitor may require you to commission a new certification.

No legal requirement to update the EPC even if substantial changes have been made - the solicitor will check that there is a valid EPC but won't ask for an updated one, that's just nonsense.

Adly812

Great advice, thanks all. I'm in a good location with a lot of demand for my place so it shouldn't play too much input on my asking price and sale as I know it's a good rating anywhow. But great knowledge shared. Thanks

MyOnlyPost

The EPC is in my opinion worth very little. I checked mine out for my BTL's the other day and on each one at least 2 assumptions were made, e.g. it was assumed their was no cavity wall insulation, it was assumed there was 100mm of loft insulation, amongst others

ComicGeek

Quizzical_Squirrel wrote: »

I'm selling a house right now with a 2010 EPC and the buyer's solicitor has asked for a new EPC because I had the boiler replaced in 2012 and don't know how it compares to the previous one at all.

The buyer's solicitor won't let us exchange without this new certificate.

So I guess it is requested sometimes if there are unquantifiable changes.

I've never visited this house I'm selling so specific changes since 2010 are difficult for me to assess.

Then your response should be that you already have a valid and legal EPC, and that if the buyers want an updated one then they can pay for it. Can only think that the buyers are asking their solicitor for it, I can't see why the solicitor themselves would ask for it.

The only valid reason would be if you had an F or G rated EPC rating currently, and the buyers wanted to rent it out - they could then fall foul of the minimum EPC standards coming in, and a new boiler could possibly push it into an E rating and avoid issues.

kinger101

ComicGeek wrote: »

No legal requirement to update the EPC even if substantial changes have been made - the solicitor will check that there is a valid EPC but won't ask for an updated one, that's just nonsense.

I hadn't realized this. My EA actually told me I'd need to get a new one if anything had substantially changed (which it hadn't). Makes you see how pointless they are if the information contained therein could be out of date. Mind you, I expect if you got three people round to do them, they'd all give wildly different ratings.

kinger101

ComicGeek wrote: »

Then your response should be that you already have a valid and legal EPC, and that if the buyers want an updated one then they can pay for it. Can only think that the buyers are asking their solicitor for it, I can't see why the solicitor themselves would ask for it.

The only valid reason would be if you had an F or G rated EPC rating currently, and the buyers wanted to rent it out - they could then fall foul of the minimum EPC standards coming in, and a new boiler could possibly push it into an E rating and avoid issues.

The solicitor is likely asking on behalf of a buyer rather than some box-ticking exercise.....no point losing a sale of £50.

Miss_Samantha

kinger101 wrote: »

The solicitor is likely asking on behalf of a buyer rather than some box-ticking exercise.....no point losing a sale of £50.

The same can be said for the buyer: Is there a point in walking away over an useless £50 EPC?

Especially here, I think it is completely nonsensical: There is an EPC but since it was made the boiler was replaced. This means that a new EPC will be improved because instead of an old inefficient boiler there is now a new efficient one.

Personally, I'd reply that and offer to provide copies of the new boiler's documentation.

3mph

Whilst I found the EPC calculations complete nonsense I did find it really useful to compare the one on my house against the EPC of what I was looking at. So I could see what % it was more or less.

The one on mine was nuts, solid floor insulation £6 to £8,000 saving £123 over 3 years, Solar water heating £6K saving £120 over 3 years.

But I could work out that the flat I was going for (electric everything) would be 80% of the cost of my old house (gas) even if what they quoted in £ and KWH I knew was nonsense.

ComicGeek

Quizzical_Squirrel wrote: »

Exactly.

I'm not prepared to legally state nothing has changed because of the boiler replacement and either leave myself open to further legal action or lose the sale.

For the sake of £50.

So again, I say: if there have been substantial changes to the EPC evaluation criteria, be prepared for a request to commission an up to date certification.

Further legal action? For what? You are not an EPC assessor, so there is no expectation for you to be able to legally state anything about the EPC rating.


The 1st response is to say that they can pay the £50 if they want a new EPC. If they really are going to walk away over £50, then you can make a decision about whether you want to spend £50 yourself to save the sale. But up to that point you are just wasting money!


I wouldn't risk a sale over £50, but at the same time I wouldn't roll over and pay it without asking why it's needed, when there is no legal requirement as a seller to do it.