Is it worth renting a home with more expensive rent but a better EPC rating?

FreeBear

newsgroupmonkey_ said:

WriterPerson said:

Hello MSE Forum members,
I'm looking to rent a home for just myself. There are a couple of places I'm interested in locally: one is a flat for £600pcm rent, which has an EPC D rating. It has a restaurant that's open four evenings a week below, and another flat above, so I suppose it may benefit from a bit of 'borrowed' heat by being in the middle of the two. The other place I'm interested in is a two-floor 'eco-house' for £950pcm rent, which has an EPC B rating. It has 'dynamic natural light' and appears to be largely open plan in design. It also costs approx. £180 per year more than the other place in council tax, being in a slightly higher band. 
£600pcm rent is obviously a lot cheaper than £950pcm, but I wondered - given how energy bills are these days - whether the difference in EPC rating between one place and the other would mean that, effectively, there'd be little discrepancy in how much I'd be spending per month between taking the place with cheaper rent but (I imagine) higher energy bills, or taking the place with more expensive rent but which should have cheaper energy bills. Possibly relevant: I spend most of my time in the home, so I will need to pay for heating the place all day through colder weather. 
I know there's a lot of scepticism generally about EPC ratings, but I'd be interested to know MSE Forum members' thoughts about this, especially if you've had experience of living in 'eco-houses' - whether they're all they're cracked up to be for energy-saving, etc.
Many thanks! 

We live in a 1950s 3 bed detached dormer bungalow that has an EPC of E. We're at home all day and night (both work at home).

Our combined bills are around £300 a month. You're not going to save £350 a month + £180 a year for CT.
Maybe £100 a month saving at best, so you're still out of pocket by £250+ the council tax.

In way of comparison, I have a late 1920s 3 bed semi. In most of the day, and my monthly gas/elec bill is around £80 during the winter months. Really depends on what sort of temperature you heat the place to, and for how long (I aim for 19°C during the day & 16/17°C overnight).

Tabieth

I’d go for the eco house because it sounds so much nicer and it isn’t above a restaurant. The EPC would be a factor in my decision making but it certainly wouldn’t be what I base my decision on.