Govt. plans to target mortgages to EPC's could leave many homes unsaleable

NameUnavailable

Nobody else noticed this in the news? https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/19/mortgages-tied-to-green-home-improvements-considered-by-uk

Bad enough in you own a house which has an EPC of D or worse but at least you are in control of any works required to bring it up to a C and therefore be mortgageable.

What if you live in a flat with a low rating? Will the freeholder be bothered that the leaseholders can't sell? Will they see it as a great opportunity to charge huge amounts for work to make the building more efficient (but with what obligation to ensure every flat gets a C rating or better?).

I'm looking at a flat which has a rating of E currently, the EPC says to get to a C rating I would need to install roof insulation and cavity wall insulation. Obviously as a leaseholder that would be impossible and it would be down to the freeholder to decide to do the works although even then it might not be possible as such work would be deemed 'improvements' and outside the scope of the lease which would only allow for maintenance.

Are the government on a crusade to trap people in homes they can't sell? What with the cladding scandal, upcoming fire safety regulations, new regulations about energy EPC ratings for rental property (minimum C rating) on now this news, they really are trying their best to make many homes into money pits or worthless.

Shaztastic3000

The idea is to make homes more energy efficient

Doozergirl

Never going to happen. Not in a
long while, anyway.  

Someone sent me a link earlier and I ignored it. 

They have NO STRATEGY to retrofit houses properly.  This should be a 20 year plan with an end goal.  

You can't expect people to do things that they've have had very little education about and absolutely no support to achieve for several years now.  And you certainly can't punish them for it.  

Yes, we need to upgrade our housing stock, we also need to raise the regulations for new builds!  

It's literally hot air.  They've gone for headline grabbing attention that's backed up by nothing.   

NameUnavailable

Shaztastic3000 said:

The idea is to make homes more energy efficient

Of course, but trapping thousands in less efficient homes that they can't sell or rent or (as explained above) aren't able to improve even if they wanted to, can't be fair?

NameUnavailable

Listed buildings are also going to be a problem. Owners can't fit double glazing or wall insulation.

Of course someone in an 'A' rated property might be very careless in terms of energy use and actually use more than a careful person in an E rated property! That can't be accounted for.

Gavin83

It seems a way to push massive costs onto homeowners for “improvements” they frankly don’t want or care about. This would be enough for me to take my vote elsewhere but sadly I can’t see any of the major parties taking a different stance. Ultimately even if you’re pro green it’ll have little affect globally anyway.

Thankfully my house is already rated at C. I certainly wouldn’t wish to spend a large sum of money to bring it up to standard.

Section62

NameUnavailable said:

Are the government on a crusade to trap people in homes they can't sell? What with the cladding scandal, upcoming fire safety regulations, new regulations about energy EPC ratings for rental property (minimum C rating) on now this news, they really are trying their best to make many homes into money pits or worthless.

The article says -

Those targets* could become mandatory “if insufficient progress” were made, according to the documents.

[*See below]

Nationwide have been banging on about 'green' mortgages for several years.  Now they have a target of 50% of their mortgage book being EPC C or better by 2030, and since April this year are giving cashback on properties with an A or B rating.

https://www.nationwidemediacentre.co.uk/news/nationwide-launches-cashback-incentive-to-encourage-energy-efficient-homeownership

The Nationwide pledge is spookily similar to what the article describes as -

Measures being considered include voluntary targets* for banks to improve the average energy performance certificate rating of the homes in their lending portfolio to at least band C by 2030.

[*See above]

So is that "trying their best to make many homes into money pits or worthless", or following the way the market is heading already?

IMV the main issue is how unfit for purpose the EPC rating system is.  Improve that and the risk of people being trapped in money pits or worthless property will be much lower.

And of course there will always be cash buyers looking for a more economical purchase.

ProDave

I keep saying this, people need to wake up to what the EPC means and start valuing houses with a poor EPC lower than good ones to reflect the higher running cost and work that WILL be needed sooner or later to improve them.

I would not personally buy a house worse than C unless it was particularly cheap and of a type that could be upgraded.

This is starting as "encouragement" but might later become mandatory.  That threat alone is the final nail that would stop me buying a poor house unless the work needed was truly reflected in the price.

tacpot12

As ProDave says, people really need to start worrying about the EPC of the properties they are buying, but I don't think any government would get away with making it difficult to get mortgages on 40% of the UK housing stock. There would be riots, and a lot more homelessnes.

Crashy_Time

tacpot12 said:

As ProDave says, people really need to start worrying about the EPC of the properties they are buying, but I don't think any government would get away with making it difficult to get mortgages on 40% of the UK housing stock. There would be riots, and a lot more homelessnes.

Highly highly unlikely IMO, there might be some jubilation as prices come down but riots, not really.

NameUnavailable

tacpot12 said:

As ProDave says, people really need to start worrying about the EPC of the properties they are buying, but I don't think any government would get away with making it difficult to get mortgages on 40% of the UK housing stock. There would be riots, and a lot more homelessnes.

Homelessness yes, I agree. Riots? hardly! Maybe some letters in the local papers, the odd petition but not riots. When did we last see riots in the UK over anything political? Brexit? No. Lack of action over Covid and 180k deaths? No. Who is going to riot over house prices?