Updating post from Reddit.
Hi everyone,
EPC was invented in 2007 by the UK government of the day, since then I've heard as sure you all have the horror stories swirling around of landlords and even private owners paying vast sums to comply with some arbitary target and year date picked in the future because some 'inspector' who did a two day course has the power to lose you tens or maybe even hundreds of thousands because of made up lore that is largely symbolic. And the Labour gov is going to make it so that you can't rent, sell, or even get a mortage without this piece of paper that was made up.
This reminds me of similar rackets past present and future;
heat pumps banning large deposits up front from tenants insulation that makes properties unmortgagable
Like the proposed petrol/diesel vehicle bans and punishing car manufacturers fining them for selling every car that isnt electric... I think it will be abandoned.. the EPC lore is the Landlord equivilent of that net zero war on car makers in my head.
... who here is just waiting for the policies to come into contact with reality and not survive, when the next government is in the silly ideas will be abandoned... it will all seem like the great diesel con of the 90's...
I'm dubious whether EPC scheme will be around for it's 25th birthday, given there will be an election by 2029, if not before.
Governments trying to force markets whether cars or houses will never end well.
Oh and theres a 1 or 2 % increase on Stamp duty on BTL... not enough to throw toys out the pram but just extracting the urine.
Who is just waiting for this nonsense to end and holding...
The EPC is a con. I had 4 done when we converted flats. The guy didn’t even want to go see them and did it off plans. I literally told him what we had done and he based it on that. I didn’t lie, but there is no way that people haven’t in the past.
I rented a place that came with a C. It was the coldest place I’ve lived in. It was redone whilst I was there and it got an E…I’m not even sure that was the right rating for it.
It doesn’t/can’t for example work with the rating of glass. It just says “double glazed”. There are many different types of this.
TLDR the EPC is bullshit
Conversion of to flats is a material change of use which would require a new build SAP EPC is which based on the plans and a sign off that the designs were built to plan so no site visit is required
The uvalue and g-value of the glazing can be input if known.
Agreed. But we inherited 90% finished flats and we didn’t know the make up.
Whether you can or not. It’s still 99.99% horse shit. And that’s the reality of it
EPC is going nowhere. It’s deeply flawed but as its ramifications are usually restricted to only certain people the masses won’t care (landlords and people selling their houses) only once it affects everyone will the media get on their soap box about it.
I’m fortunate enough that all my portfolio already meets all the requirements - I like my houses being warm and efficient.
I had one house I dropped a fortune trying to make it better - of course it was the largest house i had and it cost a lot - windows, doors, loft, cavity, boiler, lighting! Dare not add it up. When the new super duper efficient boiler acted up for the 6th time in 2yrs and I was between tenants I decided to offload it.
Gas safety is the one that bothers me. Not because I think it’s a scam. Because if it’s really that important it should be a national requirement for all homes, not just tenanted ones
>heat pumps banning large deposits up front from tenants insulation that makes properties unmortgagable
Heat pumps banned what?
OP doesn't understand the English language very well and has no idea what a comma is.
One of the reasons landlords are hated is because their was never a high bar to entry. As op proves, any old idiot can be one.
I think the EPC in principle is a decent idea however it's not fit for purpose as they aren't comparable from one to another as it depends on the weightings at that time, for example a project I worked on was a semi d pair of flats built at the same time but finished slightly apart so under different EPC schemes, same building spec, heating etc and different ratings.
I have done an experiment, paid for 2 assessors to assess the same house, told them I just want it done without uploading it at the end. I got 2 ratings and 2 sets of detail back. Look. They are willing to do so much to penalize LLs at the moment. Hang tight. Sometimes I wonder if that is because we have not been proactively working together as a community of LLs. For example does anyone want to join their own local LL groups if there is one? It might be helpful for example when increasing rent when the rent review is determined by what local rent is. And if there is a database of service providers with genuine ratings like for example tradies who do good works, cleaners, etc? There are many we can share if there are groups like that for us to be a part of.
Sounds like you’re a slumlord who needs to insulate their properties
How much more insulation are you going to put in. Most lofts will be rammed packed. Walls with cavities would be filled already. External wall insulation is a scam and mostly not great for an old building. Over boarding with PIR panels internally can cause mould growth. So tell me how much more insulating are you going to do?
Know of a property given a firm E rating. Yet changed by an agent to D, without inspection to improve market appeal. Property should be of a good standard, and that should be verifiable and accurate. However, the current system is not fit for purpose.
EPCs would have been fine if they hadn't used the ratings as a political tool to further the net zero agenda. So what got you a C 10 years ago now only gets you E etc.