EPC for warm home discount

HillStreetBlues

There is another thread about a WHD involving WTC
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6418304/another-warm-home-discount-question/p1

It's so unhelpful that you aren't told why they think you don't qualify, as it could either be an issue with the WTC or information they have on your property.

Bjdav65

Thank you for the help.
I have got a few quotes for an EPC ranging from £50 to £120.
Is there anything I should make sure it includes or are they all going to be the same.

HillStreetBlues

Bjdav65 said:

Thank you for the help.
I have got a few quotes for an EPC ranging from £50 to £120.
Is there anything I should make sure it includes or are they all going to be the same.

My view is they are all the same.
What you need to do while the person is there is to make sure you agree with the information.
Check the floor area to see if it matches your neighbour, query it if it's less.

If you plan to sell in the next 10 years you can use the that EPC (legal requirement)

Bjdav65

The other thing I noticed 

While looking at the EPC details on my neighbours houses was to see that some were listed as built between 1900 - 1929, some 1930 - 1949 and some 1950 - 1966 which doesn't  seem possible considering they are a row of terrace houses, all identical, you would assume they were all built together at the same time, and when checking the WHD eligibility the ones listed as 1900 - 1929 came up as eligible and the newer ones as not eligible.

I don't think they were built pre 1930s so I am assuming now that I probably won't be eligible for WHD and it would be silly to waste £59 on an EPC that's not needed for anything else 
Thank you all for the help and advice.

Spoonie_Turtle

Yeah, they're not entirely reliable - our EPC changed (for a before and after when the Housing Association had a heat pump installed) and the building date was updated.  Our next door neighbours, who live in the exact mirror image of our house as it's a semi-detached building, still have the old building date range on their updated, post-heat pump EPC.  They also have a different number of rooms on their EPC (although the same floor area) which we know is completely wrong.

Just shows another reason why it's just as well they decided against using EPCs in the initial property calculation - can you imagine if they had gone by totally impossible information‽  Would have been more of a mess than it already is.

GemGina

Bjdav65 said:

The other thing I noticed 

While looking at the EPC details on my neighbours houses was to see that some were listed as built between 1900 - 1929, some 1930 - 1949 and some 1950 - 1966 which doesn't  seem possible considering they are a row of terrace houses, all identical, you would assume they were all built together at the same time, and when checking the WHD eligibility the ones listed as 1900 - 1929 came up as eligible and the newer ones as not eligible.

I don't think they were built pre 1930s so I am assuming now that I probably won't be eligible for WHD and it would be silly to waste £59 on an EPC that's not needed for anything else 
Thank you all for the help and advice.

I'm having trouble with this too, I get Universal Credit with the housing benefit element, so I rang the helpline when I didn't receive a letter to be told I don't qualify. The reason is because it's a terrace house. 

I have the EPC reports for my house and also the reports for my 2 sister's houses (we all live in the same street).

Their houses are semi-detached and mine is listed ad a mid-terrace (there are 4 houses joined together with an alleyway between mine and next door). All 3 are listed as 89 square metres in size.

Their houses have a C energy rating mine has a D.

So my house costs more to heat according to the EPC report but I don't qualify because it's a terrace house.

I manually changed the house to a semi-detached on the eligibility checker and it came up "Please wait for a letter" "You’re probably eligible for £150 off your electricity bill for winter 2022 to 2023."

So it looks like that's the reason, terrace houses don't qualify.

GemGina

Mid-terrace houses that should be, End terrace houses are semi-detached.

Bjdav65

It's ridiculous how they have done it, there's so many people struggling at the moment and the helpline isn't helpful at all.
I have run out of options now and just accepted I'm not going to get WHD this year.  

Spoonie_Turtle

GemGina said:

Bjdav65 said:

The other thing I noticed 

While looking at the EPC details on my neighbours houses was to see that some were listed as built between 1900 - 1929, some 1930 - 1949 and some 1950 - 1966 which doesn't  seem possible considering they are a row of terrace houses, all identical, you would assume they were all built together at the same time, and when checking the WHD eligibility the ones listed as 1900 - 1929 came up as eligible and the newer ones as not eligible.

I don't think they were built pre 1930s so I am assuming now that I probably won't be eligible for WHD and it would be silly to waste £59 on an EPC that's not needed for anything else 
Thank you all for the help and advice.

So it looks like that's the reason, terrace houses don't qualify.

It's not that mid-terraced house don't qualify, it's that they have to be older and/or bigger to qualify than most other types because it's assumed the insulation of having houses on both sides means the require less energy to heat than houses not insulated on two sides. 

You could check where yours probably fell in this spreadsheet https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1115362/whd-eligibility-statement-2022-england-wales-annex-1.xlsx

Bjdav65

Spoonie_Turtle said:

GemGina said:

Bjdav65 said:

The other thing I noticed 

While looking at the EPC details on my neighbours houses was to see that some were listed as built between 1900 - 1929, some 1930 - 1949 and some 1950 - 1966 which doesn't  seem possible considering they are a row of terrace houses, all identical, you would assume they were all built together at the same time, and when checking the WHD eligibility the ones listed as 1900 - 1929 came up as eligible and the newer ones as not eligible.

I don't think they were built pre 1930s so I am assuming now that I probably won't be eligible for WHD and it would be silly to waste £59 on an EPC that's not needed for anything else 
Thank you all for the help and advice.

So it looks like that's the reason, terrace houses don't qualify.

It's not that mid-terraced house don't qualify, it's that they have to be older and/or bigger to qualify than most other types because it's assumed the insulation of having houses on both sides means the require less energy to heat than houses not insulated on two sides. 

You could check where yours probably fell in this spreadsheet https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1115362/whd-eligibility-statement-2022-england-wales-annex-1.xlsx

Well mines down as low energy cost on this spreadsheet and compared to some houses it probably is. I just think they have decided to change the criteria and make it as confusing as possible so they can save money.