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Will the Council Pay for an Energy Performance Certificate?

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RealGem
RealGem Posts: 569 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
edited 2 February 2023 at 5:55PM in Energy
Hi

Re: Warm Home Discount, I did as I was told, and waited for my letter that was supposed to arrive mid January. It never came. So I phoned up today and they say I need an Energy Performance Certificate, and that I need to pay for it, although she never said how much it will cost. 

I live in a council property and I'm on a very low income. 

1.How much are these certificates please?

2. Will the council pay?

3. And which is the best department in the Council to contact about this please?

I only have til the end of Feb to apply for the Warm Home Discount, so I need to sort it out asap. 

Thank you


Look at it this way... In a hundred years who's gonna care?
«1

Comments

  • Spoonie_Turtle
    Spoonie_Turtle Posts: 10,349 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fifth Anniversary Name Dropper
    Going to copy and paste a comment I made on another thread - the way the "help"line is handling it is just causing more confusion, it's ridiculous.

    There is a reason they refer to an EPC, but it is NOT a condition of entitlement to the discount.

    The new rules are that you have to be claiming a qualifying benefit AND live in a property deemed to intrinsically have high energy costs - they work this out based on age, type and size of your home.

    If one of those pieces of information is missing in the data they use to identify eligible properties, currently the only way for a person to add in that missing information is by referring to an EPC.  This is turning out to be a problem for multiple people who don't have one.

    May I ask what qualifying benefit you claim?  Also what type of property do you live in, and do you know its age and floor area? 
    With that information we can work out whether you should have qualified or not.

    If it appears you really should have qualified, it would be worth contacting your MP because multiple people are falling through the cracks - the system is supposed to work out any missing data but people are missing out, something has gone wrong, and many people don't have an EPC to be able to get the right calculation.  And if nothing changes, people in those same properties will keep missing out next year and every year after that.

    Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/warm-home-discount-eligibility-statement-england-and-wales


    ^ Sorry that doesn't actually answer any of your questions but it is all relevant - if it turns out you wouldn't qualify anyway then getting an EPC (even for next year) would be pointless.
  • RealGem
    RealGem Posts: 569 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 2 February 2023 at 9:15PM
    Going to copy and paste a comment I made on another thread - the way the "help"line is handling it is just causing more confusion, it's ridiculous.

    There is a reason they refer to an EPC, but it is NOT a condition of entitlement to the discount.

    The new rules are that you have to be claiming a qualifying benefit AND live in a property deemed to intrinsically have high energy costs - they work this out based on age, type and size of your home.

    If one of those pieces of information is missing in the data they use to identify eligible properties, currently the only way for a person to add in that missing information is by referring to an EPC.  This is turning out to be a problem for multiple people who don't have one.

    May I ask what qualifying benefit you claim?  Also what type of property do you live in, and do you know its age and floor area? 
    With that information we can work out whether you should have qualified or not.

    If it appears you really should have qualified, it would be worth contacting your MP because multiple people are falling through the cracks - the system is supposed to work out any missing data but people are missing out, something has gone wrong, and many people don't have an EPC to be able to get the right calculation.  And if nothing changes, people in those same properties will keep missing out next year and every year after that.

    Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/warm-home-discount-eligibility-statement-england-and-wales


    ^ Sorry that doesn't actually answer any of your questions but it is all relevant - if it turns out you wouldn't qualify anyway then getting an EPC (even for next year) would be pointless.




    "May I ask what qualifying benefit you claim?  Also what type of property do you live in, and do you know its age and floor area? "


    Hi Spoonie_Turtle yes:
    Income ESA and Housing Benefit
    Top floor flat, 1 bed flat, not touching any other flats (a detached flat! ...only has flats beneath, and poor insulation in the roof)
    Built 1955 - 1960
    41 sq metres (amended from the incorrect "401 sq. metres"!)

    I love how the Helpline says "If you live in England and Wales"... 

    It would be nice to have a home in BOTH England and Wales but I doubt I would qualify for WHD!   :D 


    Look at it this way... In a hundred years who's gonna care?
  • ariarnia
    ariarnia Posts: 4,225 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 2 February 2023 at 8:38PM
    RealGem said:
    401 sq metres

    just checking thats supposed to be meters not feet? or maybe 40.1?

    an average terraced house is about 70m2 (about 800 square foot). 400 sq meters is huge. 
    Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you. Anne Lamott

    It's amazing how those with a can-do attitude and willingness to 'pitch in and work' get all the luck, isn't it?

    Please consider buying some pet food and giving it to your local food bank collection or animal charity. Animals aren't to blame for the cost of living crisis.
  • pochase
    pochase Posts: 3,449 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 2 February 2023 at 8:55PM
    Under the assumption that it is 400Sq feet your property will no longer qualify for WHD.

    The combination of flat, small and relatively new rates your flat as low energy need for the purpose of WHD.

    They are just using the criteria size age and property type and it is of no interest if the flat is "detached" (not a official property type) or if it has no insulation at all. The decision is purely made from lists detailing what property qualifies or does not qualify.

    Here are details for flats build 1955 to 1960:



    As you can see for you to qualify for WHD your flat would need to have size of more than 90m2
  • RealGem
    RealGem Posts: 569 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    ariarnia said:
    RealGem said:
    401 sq metres

    just checking thats supposed to be meters not feet? or maybe 40.1?

    an average terraced house is about 70m2 (about 800 square foot). 400 sq meters is huge. 




    Sorry yes just over 400 square feet: nearly 41 square metres. 
    Look at it this way... In a hundred years who's gonna care?
  • RealGem
    RealGem Posts: 569 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    pochase said:
    Under the assumption that it is 400Sq feet your property will no longer qualify for WHD.

    The combination of flat, small and relatively new rates your flat as low energy need for the purpose of WHD.

    They are just using the criteria size age and property type and it is of no interest if the flat is "detached" (not a official property type) or if it has no insulation at all. The decision is purely made from lists detailing what property qualifies or does not qualify.

    Here are details for flats build 1955 to 1960:



    As you can see for you to qualify for WHD your flat would need to have size of more than 90m2
    Thank you for that chart. Very helpful (of you, not them!)

    I have chronic pain and need my heating on more than average. And my flat is full of damp too. So I have to have a dehumidifier on a lot, which drives electricity costs up. 

    Pity they have changed the way they do it this year, as I always qualified for WHD the last few years. And it was very much appreciated. 

    Thanks for your help everyone.
    Look at it this way... In a hundred years who's gonna care?
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,129 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Unless your tenancy commenced prior to 1/10/2008, you should have been provided with an EPC when you occupied the property.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • RealGem said:
    pochase said:
    Under the assumption that it is 400Sq feet your property will no longer qualify for WHD.

    The combination of flat, small and relatively new rates your flat as low energy need for the purpose of WHD.

    They are just using the criteria size age and property type and it is of no interest if the flat is "detached" (not a official property type) or if it has no insulation at all. The decision is purely made from lists detailing what property qualifies or does not qualify.

    Here are details for flats build 1955 to 1960:



    As you can see for you to qualify for WHD your flat would need to have size of more than 90m2
    Thank you for that chart. Very helpful (of you, not them!)

    I have chronic pain and need my heating on more than average. And my flat is full of damp too. So I have to have a dehumidifier on a lot, which drives electricity costs up. 

    Pity they have changed the way they do it this year, as I always qualified for WHD the last few years. And it was very much appreciated. 

    Thanks for your help everyone.
    Yeah, they didn't consider anything like that - as usual, making a change that they knew would significantly affect disabled people how on earth could they be expected to actually think about the impact?(!!!)  /sarcasm
  • ariarnia
    ariarnia Posts: 4,225 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 2 February 2023 at 11:33PM
    macman said:
    Unless your tenancy commenced prior to 1/10/2008, you should have been provided with an EPC when you occupied the property.
    would it matter if it was expired? if they got one in 2010 and it ran out in 2020 the info about the house size wouldn't change but would they need a current one because of 'computer says no'?

    also where do people find the age of the house info? we arent eligible but i'm curious. its not on our epc and i dont want to dig out our deeds if i can avoid it. 

    the op can check if theres an epc (current or expired) here: https://www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate
    Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you. Anne Lamott

    It's amazing how those with a can-do attitude and willingness to 'pitch in and work' get all the luck, isn't it?

    Please consider buying some pet food and giving it to your local food bank collection or animal charity. Animals aren't to blame for the cost of living crisis.
  • ariarnia said:
    macman said:
    Unless your tenancy commenced prior to 1/10/2008, you should have been provided with an EPC when you occupied the property.
    would it matter if it was expired? if they got one in 2010 and it ran out in 2020 the info about the house size wouldn't change but would they need a current one because of 'computer says no'?

    also where do people find the age of the house info? we arent eligible but i'm curious. its not on our epc and i dont want to dig out our deeds if i can avoid it. 

    the op can check if theres an epc (current or expired) here: https://www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate
    It should be on the full info, found here https://epc.opendatacommunities.org/  It shows SO much more than the basic EPC on the gov.uk checker, although you do have to create a free account.

    For refuting the WHD decision an expired EPC really shouldn't matter, but in this case it wouldn't help the OP anyway.
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