Landlords should have Energy Performance Certificates from 1st October

TJ27

Right then, I'm back from the pub.

I think you'll find that the HHSRS has been around for a while now. It ain't nothing new. Personally I do have some sympathy, as it's not the most user friendly system. In theory it's great but in practice it's a bit unwieldy in my opinion. In rating hazards council officers MUST consider the most vulnerable group, whether that group lives there or not. That's how it works I'm afraid. These weighty prospective tenants; Do they have kids, or grandchildren, or neices, nephews? Do they have friends who might visit with children? Or do you put a sign up outside the house saying "No kids allowed"? What about the next set of tenants? Perhaps you could stick a no children clause in your contract?

The HHSRS is about looking at the possible outcome of an accident and also how likely it is to happen. The chance of a kid slipping through a ballustrade is probably quite low but if it happens there's a possibility he or she will be left hanging by his of her head, or fall a long way. It's not very common I agree but it has happened several times. As with most accidents, we never think it's going to happen to us.

Myself, I'm more of a risk taker to be honest. I freely allow my kids to jump over the stream on their way home from school, when other parents think I'm crazy.

Nanny state? Perhaps.

clutton_2

"" Nanny state? Perhaps."" = Definitely ......

owitemisermusa

TJ27 wrote: »

....

A good example of this might be that I would go for a lower storey flat rather than a top storey flat which would tend to lose heat through the roof. The top storey flat might then lie empty for a few months, while the landlord pays the mortgage. .....

I'd always choose a top storey flat regardless of the EPC. Only if the top storey flat is a hovel/den of disease/unsound.

I don't see how the EPC will help. As someone said, better EPC grades will mean higher rents - a new "selling point".

PayDay

tbs624 wrote: »

Now, shall I extrapolate that one, and say that you mean that if enough people do anything, then that makes it okay? Nope……… let’s just recognise that we have different viewpoints.

No. What I wrote was "If you believe that the poster is out of order, then hit the alert button so that the mods can decide. However, I am sure that others have received work through this site."

Hit the alert button on every poster you think is touting for business if you want.
It is for the mods to decide if they think the poster is out of order, not you. The information the poster gave was informative to those who didn't know about this, especially tenants. There are so many lets on the market now that tenants should be told about this new directive, to help them decide which property to rent.

John_Pierpoint

Forget the cost of the piece of paper.
The government is building a database of every property in the country.
The certificates are in the HIPS already, now it is your turn.

Local authorities and other suppliers of social housing are forced to avoid their tenants getting into fuel poverty. They are not allowed to use nasty expensive to run things like night storage heaters. They have to install expensive alternatives like Ground Source Heat pumps.

It will be your turn next. Throw out the night storage heaters and install a super dooper new 90% efficient condensing boiler. Inject your cavities etc. etc.
It will be compulsory I think.

Why are we doing this?

Because it is the right thing to do, we must do our tiny little bit to help stop the Chinese drowning Bangladesh or is it Burma ?

I'm off to chop some logs, you cannot get more sustainable than that.

John.

PS Parliamentary announcement on Thursday:

• over 700, 000 homes now have Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs)

karenj

Oh dear, someone told me today that they had heard on the news that 'energy saving lightbulbs' can actually cause CANCER!!! Is this true or what after the govt telling everyone to buy them.............

ilikewatch

karenj wrote: »

Oh dear, someone told me today that they had heard on the news that 'energy saving lightbulbs' can actually cause CANCER!!! Is this true or what after the govt telling everyone to buy them.............

Strange, every news report I've seen about this in the past couple of days has said that energy saving light bulbs pose NO increased risk of cancer. However apparently if you remain within 30cm of an unencapsulated energy saving bulb for over an hour you run a slight risk of getting some reddening of the skin.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7661462.stm