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

BikingBud

ProDave said:

The ones upset will of course be those owning poor EPC houses if the value of their houses starts to fall in relation to good ones.

Bring it on!

Crashy_Time

sammyjammy said:

I own a mid terrace Victorian house like tens of thousands of others across the country, I can't imagine how much money it would cost to get our properties to a C if its even possible!

The bank giving a loan to a potential buyer would work it out when they value the property.

bbat

BikingBud said:

sammyjammy said:

I own a mid terrace Victorian house like tens of thousands of others across the country, I can't imagine how much money it would cost to get our properties to a C if its even possible!

Would it be less than the perceived inflated value due to just sitting in it?

Rather than sinking 15-20k into a house because someone fancies a new bathroom or kitchen, how about investing the money to improve the energy efficiency?

What about when your EPC survey and rating says your D and with improvements can still only achieve D. 

Doozergirl

bbat said:

BikingBud said:

sammyjammy said:

I own a mid terrace Victorian house like tens of thousands of others across the country, I can't imagine how much money it would cost to get our properties to a C if its even possible!

Would it be less than the perceived inflated value due to just sitting in it?

Rather than sinking 15-20k into a house because someone fancies a new bathroom or kitchen, how about investing the money to improve the energy efficiency?

What about when your EPC survey and rating says your D and with improvements can still only achieve D. 

Any house can be improved.  With money,
you can turn any house into an A rated one.  That sounds like someone not doing their job properly.

ProDave

bbat said:

BikingBud said:

sammyjammy said:

I own a mid terrace Victorian house like tens of thousands of others across the country, I can't imagine how much money it would cost to get our properties to a C if its even possible!

Would it be less than the perceived inflated value due to just sitting in it?

Rather than sinking 15-20k into a house because someone fancies a new bathroom or kitchen, how about investing the money to improve the energy efficiency?

What about when your EPC survey and rating says your D and with improvements can still only achieve D. 

The way EPC's are done needs an overhaul.

I know someone who spent a lot of time and money adding extra insulation and sealing up all the leaks in his house which reduced his heating bill drastically.  When he came to sell it, he presented all the details of the improvements he had made, together with photographs of the work to the assessor who promptly ignored it all and just made the standard assumptions and it got a worse EPC than it should.

Chandler85

While EPC are full of assumptions, because lets face it, the guy has about 10 minutes to do it, they will continue to be ignored unless mortgage companies force them to be taken into account.  Which makes the system worse, if you have people who assume things and then give you a rubbish EPC, so you can't sell your house as easily due to a 10 minute assessment.

For them to be useful they need to be done properly, not all double glazing is the same.  I've seen double glazed houses that the EPC says needs the single glazed windows replacing etc, and these are new EPCs.  It is like the assessor just doesn't look.  Though to be fair, I had a surveyor tell me a glazed internal door was not safety glass and needed replacing due to being dangerous.  The door had laminated glass in it and was perfectly safe, the glass even said in the corner it was laminate...

MaryNB

Chandler85 said:

While EPC are full of assumptions, because lets face it, the guy has about 10 minutes to do it, they will continue to be ignored unless mortgage companies force them to be taken into account.  Which makes the system worse, if you have people who assume things and then give you a rubbish EPC, so you can't sell your house as easily due to a 10 minute assessment.

For them to be useful they need to be done properly, not all double glazing is the same.  I've seen double glazed houses that the EPC says needs the single glazed windows replacing etc, and these are new EPCs.  It is like the assessor just doesn't look.  Though to be fair, I had a surveyor tell me a glazed internal door was not safety glass and needed replacing due to being dangerous.  The door had laminated glass in it and was perfectly safe, the glass even said in the corner it was laminate...

I lived in a rental flat with an EPC of E. The flat about us had an EPC of C. The only differences were we had energy efficient bulbs, the flat above didn't, and we got marked down for having no roof insulation, the flat above us didn't because there was another flat above it. Load of nonsense. 

martindow

Niv said:Mine is 400 yo and part cob and obviously no cavity walls etc. I think a D rating would be an achievement!

I would imagine tht a thick cob wall could have quite good insulating properties.

martindow

To improve the housing stock in the country, a good starting point would be to change building regs for new builds and larger extensions to insist on high building standards.  Over time this could make selling older inefficient houses more difficult and  upgrading would become a selling point.

lookstraightahead

ProDave said:

bbat said:

BikingBud said:

sammyjammy said:

I own a mid terrace Victorian house like tens of thousands of others across the country, I can't imagine how much money it would cost to get our properties to a C if its even possible!

Would it be less than the perceived inflated value due to just sitting in it?

Rather than sinking 15-20k into a house because someone fancies a new bathroom or kitchen, how about investing the money to improve the energy efficiency?

What about when your EPC survey and rating says your D and with improvements can still only achieve D. 

The way EPC's are done needs an overhaul.

I know someone who spent a lot of time and money adding extra insulation and sealing up all the leaks in his house which reduced his heating bill drastically.  When he came to sell it, he presented all the details of the improvements he had made, together with photographs of the work to the assessor who promptly ignored it all and just made the standard assumptions and it got a worse EPC than it should.

A bit like house valuations then. The money vendors have had back from their houses over the years and especially recently means they need to give a little back. It's only like updating. 

Mine is a D rating but a very old house. 

The only thing I worry about is how much less fresh air circulation there will be in houses as people have thick glazing and keep their windows shut. Yuck!