Possible fraudulent EPC provided by landlord - what can we do?

lucyt87

We are renting a one bedroom flat, and I recently started a thread regarding our ongoing problems with heating and electricity. To summarise: we cannot heat our flat to healthy temperatures and getting £300-£400 per month in electricity bills. The flat has only very costly electric heaters, very high ceilings (we're on the 3rd floor in the roof), and little if not no insulation. When we approached the landlord, they used the EPC we were provided upon moving in which is rated a D, to avoid any responsibility. They refused to put in any replacement heaters or make any improvements.

It never made sense to us that the EPC for this flat was a D rating given the above mentioned problems we were experiencing. After some digging, we found a previous EPC for this same flat dated 6 months prior to the EPC we were provided, and it was rated a G (score of 18). Interestingly, this certificate is not available on the public register, only in government archives, because the landlord opted out of having it public. This G rated EPC said the highest potential for this flat was an E ,and would require external wall insulation and storage heaters installed. A few months later (and after April 2018 when laws were introduced prohibiting the lease of properties rated F or G), the new EPC with a rating of D was done for this property. Neither external wall insulation or storage heaters were put in, yet somehow this flat jumped from a G to a D in the space of a few months? The EPC rated D also states there is 'external wall insulation assumed' when there isn't. 

What can we do and who can we contact? 

greatcrested

EPCs are notoriously unreliable.

I assume the D rated EPC you were given is available on the public register? Is it possible changes were made to the property between the 2 inspections?

Another possibility is that recent changes in the way EPC grading is caculated may have affected the rate awarded. In particular I note you refer to "external wall insulation". That suggests solid walls. These were deemed to have very poor insulating properties, so scored low. More recent research suggests their insulating qualities are better than previously understood, and consequently the score awarded for solid walls in EPC reports has been adjusted and is now higher than previously.

If the property is genuinely rated a G (though this does not seem to be currently the case), there is a process for continuing to let a property: the landlord can register for an applicable exemption. 

If you genuinely suspect fraud, see

From EPC FAQs:

In the first instance contact the energy assessor, whose details can be found in the ‘About this document’ section of the EPC. If the assessor is unable to resolve the issue to your satisfaction, contact their accreditation scheme whose details are given in the same section.

I'm afraid it is inevitable that a top floor flat, with high ceilings and poor insulation, will be hard to heat. There is no legal requirement for a LL to provide central heating, or indeed storage heaters, providing there is heating of some kind.

However the Housing Health & Safety Rating System  may make interesting reading for you. Contact Environmental Health for enforcement.

lucyt87

Thanks for your comments. Yes the EPC for this property rated D is available on the register. 

No, I’m fairly certain there was no work between the two EPC’s which were only done a few months apart, both in 2018. The only notable difference between them (besides the rating jumping from a G to a D) is that the first said no external wall insulation, resulting in a G, and the latter said ‘external wall insulation assumed’ resulting in a D. There is no insulation - I’ve had it checked, hence my suspicion this wasn’t obtained through the proper channels. Seemed odd that an EPC of D was obtained so soon after the introduction of laws prohibiting renting out properties rated F or G. 

I’m not trying to state what the landlord is obligated to provide, but aren’t they obligated to rent out properties rated E or above? From the original EPC it seems this flat required storage heaters and wall insulation in order to be reassessed high enough to be an E and therefore rentable. How is this possible they got a D which is higher than an E when neither of these improvements were done? 

I appreciate EPC guidelines and standards may change, but from a G to a D in a few months? The only change being insulation was “assumed” yet there’s no evidence of it. 

[Deleted User]

From 1st April 2018 it's been a requirement for private rental properties to be at least a D rating.  It looks like it's down to the Local Authority (Council) to enforce.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/domestic-private-rented-property-minimum-energy-efficiency-standard-landlord-guidance#enforcement-and-penalties

anselld

Lover_of_Lycra said:

From 1st April 2018 it's been a requirement for private rental properties to be at least a D rating.  It looks like it's down to the Local Authority (Council) to enforce.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/domestic-private-rented-property-minimum-energy-efficiency-standard-landlord-guidance#enforcement-and-penalties

I think you mean "at least E" and in any case that doesn't really help the OP.

anselld

How have you checked for the presence of external insulation?  The outside would still look like a plain rendered wall so unless you can see the original brickwork it is going to be hard to tell.   The assessor should only have put down the insulation if s/he had seen the certificate.

princeofpounds

EPC assessors are notoriously lazy and random. Wouldn't surprise me if some are corrupt - a quick google confirms my suspicion. They have a checklist that they often fill with assumptions, and switching one assumption can produce a totally different outcome. Often they just ask the property owner without any verification - this happened to me once; they didn't make it past the hallway despite me offering to show them around.

The EPC register seems to suggest the first place to go to is the assessor who issued the certificate (listed on the certificate),  but I'm not sure what you get out of this - it's not obvious if they have any liability to you, the EPC register are pretty silent on this kind of situation but you might want to spend more time on their website or contact them. Perhpas OFGEM are the right regulator. Trading standards (for the assessor) and the council are other alternatives to investigate.

It's always important to make your own judgment, once you've had a bit of experience. EPCs are the zombie child of home information pack legislation and are a useless bureaucratic exercise that means little. I don't object to the idea of measuring home efficiency, but the current system isn't worth the paper it's written on.

.

lisyloo

Have you thought about moving out and living somewhere else?
not sure what resolution you are looking for but the landlord is probably going to resist major building works and just get another tenant.

AdrianC

lucyt87 said:

The only notable difference between them (besides the rating jumping from a G to a D) is that the first said no external wall insulation, resulting in a G, and the latter said ‘external wall insulation assumed’ resulting in a D. There is no insulation - I’ve had it checked, hence my suspicion this wasn’t obtained through the proper channels.

And there's your answer.
The first EPC assessor assumed there was no insulation. The second assumed there was. You now know there isn't.

This doesn't mean the second assessment was inherently fraudulent. It just means that the second assessor was wrong in his assumptions. Congratulations - you've just produced a fine example of why EPCs are inherently flawed and unreliable.

What's your best way forward? Give in your notice, find somewhere else to live, and move on in your life.

AdrianC

Oh, and for the benefit of those who may not have looked in the Energy forum - here's the other thread.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6094700/high-electricity-bills-please-help

Precis: It's a 5m tall roof-space flat, and the OP was on an extortionate tariff that they've only just changed to one that's merely a bit pricey.

lucyt87

I got out someone from an insulation company to give us a quote for insinuation and they checked. 

There are financial decisions being made on the basis of the EPC - we relied on this to go into a tenancy and the landlords certainly used to to refuse any responsibility for the conditions in the property. Under law you cannot assume without evidence, especially when this building was built during a period that doesn’t allow for insulation - it would assumed there is none which the original EPC did, but they deliberately hid this EPC from the public. 6 months later an assumption was changed so the property suddenly became rentable ? With no building works?And the unlivable conditions and huge costs are just pushed onto the tenants? These assessors are meant to be independent to prevent this kind of thing. I’m not after building works or any resolution, and I’m moving out as soon as I practically can given I’m 8 months pregnant, but I’ve just spent a very cold winter with mould growing every other week due to this cold and damp, and paying around to £400 a month in electricity bills. I’m looking for some kind of compensation. Why do these laws exist if we can just say “they assumed wrong. Move on.”