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

Norman_Castle

MaryNB said:

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. 

My EPC doesn't mention loft insulation as apparently there's another flat above mine. I didn't notice one when in my loft accessed by the loft hatch the assessor looked up at. It also estimates my current costs as three times what they are and claims I could save an amount almost equal to the actual costs.

another_casualty

At the end of the day , the global plan which started to take a stranglehold on us last year due to 😷 has started . Unless you are w@ke  or wealthy , the news since 2020 is the worst ever. Absolutely nothing to look forward to ..
I could not vote for anyone last time around . Boris thunberg is similar to Blair when he basically ignores the rapid decline of this country , and is rubbing noses with the globalist elite all over the world .
Note that China are not ( and will not be ) punished for hat they did to us .
This is just the tip of the iceberg of probably the worst decade in my ( and many people in my age groups) lifetime . 

Did people really vote for this full on intense climate agenda, while there are much worse things which should be addressed ? 

Money could be saved hand over fist by scrapping identity politics and hs2 for a start

China and Russia are getting stronger, while the police farce have rainbow colour cars and allow our country to be destroyed by vandalism and asking if the insulate Britain protesters are not too uncomfortable or distressed on the motorway . 

Note that China and India are not bothering 2 hoots about climate change.
Them and the Russians are getting stronger while we are being torn apart

Have you seen the state of Brighton recently . Who runs Brighton council ? The greens!

It's similar to buying  stuff in the supermarkets . We are punished  by buying things made in plastic through new taxes , when the companies making them should be footing the bill Not us .

Thetr will probably be a hung parliament next election. Or whoever decides to scrap this Ego agenda will win by a landslide . 


To simplify ; who the blazes is going to afford this ?!? 

Doozergirl

You should probably re-read your signature and follow your own advice, @another_casualty


Have you read the thread?  There's a
sensible conversation happening, which you're welcome to join.  

Doozergirl

martindow said:

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.

It would be helpful to see those that currently profit from pretending to upgrade properties stood up for what they really are.   Homes Under the Hammer might become
watchable if 'developers' had to properly upgrade homes for people.

So many missed opportunities. 
 

another_casualty

Doozergirl said:

You should probably re-read your signature and follow your own advice, @another_casualty


Have you read the thread?  There's a
sensible conversation happening, which you're welcome to join.  

Thanks@Doozergirl for the advice . 

This is true it is a sensible conversation which I have joined.
I'm trying to work out how am I supposed to pay for a new boiler for example if my present one is ripped out . How much would it cost to pay to get a Victorian converted flat up to standard ? Why should  we pay ? Obviously loft insulation isn't much of an issue . 

Home owners have a responsibility to maintain their properties etc but for all of this green issue to be rammed down our throats by 2030 when we will still have to pay for everything doesn't seem possible .   It is possible I have got the wrong end of the stick of course..

NameUnavailable

Our Govt. does seem to be on a crusade to punish the public - they encouraged us to buy diesel cars up until a few years ago and now they're the devil's work and you should be ashamed if you drive one. But anyway all cars are bad and they want us to buy electric when there simply isn't enough power, let along power points, to go around!

Meanwhile other issues are overlooked. Next time you take a cruise ship holiday just think, that boat is emitting as much pollution as nearly 4 million cars!

But it's business, probably owned by a mate of whichever leader, so that's OK.

BikingBud

Norman_Castle said:

MaryNB said:

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. 

My EPC doesn't mention loft insulation as apparently there's another flat above mine. I didn't notice one when in my loft accessed by the loft hatch the assessor looked up at. It also estimates my current costs as three times what they are and claims I could save an amount almost equal to the actual costs.

So did you object? Request it to be rewritten, bring it to the attention of the accreditation scheme?

And others? How much do you actually know about your property, as seems to be the case colours of kitchen splashback and matching worktop seem more important than understanding the fabric and potential energy issues.

Why would you purchase a cob house and not understand how it performs? Or how much it might cost you in energy costs per year?

Doozergirl

another_casualty said:

Doozergirl said:

You should probably re-read your signature and follow your own advice, @another_casualty


Have you read the thread?  There's a
sensible conversation happening, which you're welcome to join.  

Thanks@Doozergirl for the advice . 

This is true it is a sensible conversation which I have joined.
I'm trying to work out how am I supposed to pay for a new boiler for example if my present one is ripped out . How much would it cost to pay to get a Victorian converted flat up to standard ? Why should  we pay ? Obviously loft insulation isn't much of an issue . 

Home owners have a responsibility to maintain their properties etc but for all of this green issue to be rammed down our throats by 2030 when we will still have to pay for everything doesn't seem possible .   It is possible I have got the wrong end of the stick of course..

Your choice is to pay either in upgrading the house or in increasing energy costs.  Fossil fuels are a finite resource, even if you don't care about your own consumption.  

I have insulted many, many houses over a period of two decades. We've had a very long time to start taking this seriously.  There's no throat ramming.    The state of our planet shouldn't be a party political thing but some will offer to help consumers more than others.  If you're not going to vote for anything then you will get what you are given.  

lookstraightahead

I do think people should stop and think - me included.

I shop at charity shops for clothes now, I can't stand to either pay pennies online for absolute garbage, or expensive items priced for ego, it's amazing what people throw away (or at least never wear).

I'm happy for my day to day living on the things that matter to be more costly if I think it's doing good. I've really started to make do and mend - I have nice things but I don't go for matching or themed.

my parents in their 80s have their heating  on less than we do, they just don't feel the cold as much. My MIL never threw a scrap of food away and walked everywhere - she was fit into her late 80s. You would often see one ripening tomato on her kitchen shelf and she would cut it so thin it would garnish a whole plate of sandwiches. She didn't have central heating until her last few years. 

We should be maintaining our houses better. I live in one 200 years old that is still standing proud (a bit wonky but hey!)

BikingBud

lookstraightahead said:

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! 

Yep - updating - Electrical checks and updated to safer installation, updating old boiler and central heating (not just chucking in the cheapest), retrofitting insulation. All should now be considered investments in the property and gain credit.

I would see the value in those changes much more than those expected after ripping out a perfectly good kitchen. In my mind nothing worse than being advised by the vendor that it was so expensive and they could not possibly accept a reduced price as they have to realise the vast amount they have paid for shiny kitchen doors or worktop.