Seen a flat that looks terrible to heat

binstore

Hi guys

I'm considering offering on a flat but it has some downsides. Is 70s top floor, flat roof, cavity wall, little to no insulation, no gas supply, no radiators. Has 70s electric underfloor that at best will be weak, unresponsive and expensive. Current owner uses a single portable electric heater in living room. Rest of place (3 beds) is unheated, there is some mould. It has electric immersion heater.

EPC just scrapes an E. With cavity wall insulation and door insulation, neither of which may be feasible, it gets to D.

Would best bet be to get more electric heaters, possibly storage, and suck up high bills? Any other good ideas? Or avoid like the plague?

Cheers

FreeBear

Flat roof - Next to impossible to insulate (although you could stick some insulated plasterboard up). Flat roofs need regular maintenance & repair to keep leaks at bay. If it hasn't been done in the last 15-25 years, it is probably due for an overhaul, and you would be in line for a share of the cost.

It would be a miss and run away for me.

QrizB

Electric UFH might make a little bit of sense if you can get a tariff like Economy 10 or Cosy Octopus, where you get three or more cheap-rate periods a day including afternoon and late evening.

But yes, I'd agree that storage heaters would probably make sense, and/or looking for a better flat!

Gerry1

Run a mile.

If you don't, when it's time to sell all your potential purchasers will.

pseudodox

Sounds a huge no no, unless you are happy to have huge bills.  I would sooner live in a tent!!

matt_drummer

Surely it depends how much it is compared to anything else available.

Do you like it?

Is it in a nice area?

If it is the right price, then you can improve it and make it a lovely place to live.

binstore

Thanks for comments. Needless to say, it has some great positives or wouldn't be considering. There are no other flats in area.

GingerTim

Run, don't walk, away from this one.

binstore

They sell easily, to downsizers. So resale should be ok assuming nothing bad happens to the building.

QrizB

binstore said:

Thanks for comments. Needless to say, it has some great positives or wouldn't be considering. There are no other flats in area.

At least you'e going into it with your eyes open, unlike many people we see on this forum.
Good luck!

Gerry1

Many of today's downsizers will have good Defined Benefit (final salary) pensions and expensive detached houses to sell.  They will observe the energy bills rather than worry about them.

Many of tomorrow's downsizers are likely to have far inferior Defined Contribution pensions and relatively modest properties to sell.

And almost everyone will then be much more aware that electric heating will be expensive or cripplingly expensive, especially if tariffs such as E7 and E10 have been withdrawn or made uncompetitive because of the push to heat pumps.

Caveat Emptor.