EPC on Rented Property

[steveR]

Just had the 10 year EPC completed on one of our properties and while it has passed, I am looking at the "recommendations" for coming from an E down to a D or C and shaking my head.... This is on a modernish property but has LPG combi heating so a terrible property!

£12-15K spend, and with the "savings" giving a payback of around 10-15 years. If I chuck in the ludicrous wind turbine recommendation, then its's nearer 25 years. HTH does a rental property ever stack up with this stuff???

 

[curlietailz]

I thought there was a limit on how much a landlord should reasonably spend to bring it up to scratch??

 

[Hampton]

Just had the 10 year EPC completed on one of our properties and while it has passed, I am looking at the "recommendations" for coming from an E down to a D or C and shaking my head.... This is on a modernish property but has LPG combi heating so a terrible property!

£12-15K spend, and with the "savings" giving a payback of around 10-15 years. If I chuck in the ludicrous wind turbine recommendation, then its's nearer 25 years. HTH does a rental property ever stack up with this stuff???

If it’s passed, forget it.
When boiler packs up consider an air source heat pump or an electric boiler.
Everything else is horlicks.
Have you heard of town properties being taken off mains gas?

 

[7610 super q]

Wat da fuuck as young people would say. Another industry/ income stream ruined by the clipboard brigade.

 

[peewit]

Just completed a barn conversion with air source heat pump . Been classed overall as D rated. Everything rated as "A" very good except the air source heat pump which was rated very poor bringing overall rating down to D. When we queried it's because their computer system doesn't know how to assess air source heat pumps yet so is automatically rated as very poor!!!

 

[Steevo]

If it’s passed, forget it.
When boiler packs up consider an air source heat pump or an electric boiler.
Everything else is horlicks.
Have you heard of town properties being taken off mains gas?

Wise words right there!

 

[steveR]

If it’s passed, forget it.
When boiler packs up consider an air source heat pump or an electric boiler.
Everything else is horlicks.
Have you heard of town properties being taken off mains gas?

I will forget it now...although there were rumouts of retrospective requirements to band D...

Just because something uses electric, it is deemed to be "better", and by better, it actually means cheaper...sometimes. We installed an Oil combi 2 years ago from LPG, as it was the cheapest option to move Bands! All very odd.

I know of one property, that shifted it's EPC, by installing a storage heater.... that is not used by the tenant!

 

[steveR]

Just completed a barn conversion with air source heat pump . Been classed overall as D rated. Everything rated as "A" very good except the air source heat pump which was rated very poor bringing overall rating down to D. When we queried it's because their computer system doesn't know how to assess air source heat pumps yet so is automatically rated as very poor!!!

FFS.... Sounds about right though! The property in question here already has insulation in a suspended floor, but this could not apparently be noted, so had a recommendation to put in insulation....

 

[steveR]

I thought there was a limit on how much a landlord should reasonably spend to bring it up to scratch??

You can get an exemption, but the last time I looked, it was a high figure...

 

[Hampton]

I will forget it now...although there were rumouts of retrospective requirements to band D...

Just because something uses electric, it is deemed to be "better", and by better, it actually means cheaper...sometimes. We installed an Oil combi 2 years ago from LPG, as it was the cheapest option to move Bands! All very odd.

I know of one property, that shifted it's EPC, by installing a storage heater.... that is not used by the tenant!

I did a cottage up last year, gutted and insulated, new roof etc, installed full central heating system, even dug the floors out and insulated.
Property just scraped through!
EPC guy said I should have put storage heaters in instead of central heating! Told him to do one!!

 

[HolzKopf]

It's a crazy situation - had an EPC done on a small unit. Scored 'E' because of the fixed to the wall electric heaters. Advised that if these (old) heaters were removed i.e. no heating in the premises then it would score 'C' Did that and gave the incoming tenant a portable floor standing hot air blower as a birthday present....

HK

 

[Doing it for the kids]

They system isn’t good enough to give sensible answers.

had to install a less efficient oil boiler because it was recognised by the system, the more efficient due to go would not have counted.

 

[Lincsman]

Just had the 10 year EPC completed on one of our properties and while it has passed, I am looking at the "recommendations" for coming from an E down to a D or C and shaking my head.... This is on a modernish property but has LPG combi heating so a terrible property!

£12-15K spend, and with the "savings" giving a payback of around 10-15 years. If I chuck in the ludicrous wind turbine recommendation, then its's nearer 25 years. HTH does a rental property ever stack up with this stuff???

Its an E, just leave it well alone until you have to do something.

 

[Hampton]

Its an E, just leave it well alone until you have to do something.

I agree.
It is maddening when you do all the work to improve the place and it just scrapes through though

 

[Lincsman]

I agree.
It is maddening when you do all the work to improve the place and it just scrapes through though

What i can guarantee is if you get it done again next year it will be different, (better or worse) without changing anything.

 

[steveR]

What i can guarantee is if you get it done again next year it will be different, (better or worse) without changing anything.

Totally, I have seen that here in the past... somewhat depressing!

 

[br jones]

shortly the law changes and all rentals have to be a epc of c or better,if not not allowed to rent out

 

[Steevo]

shortly the law changes and all rentals have to be a epc of c or better,if not not allowed to rent out

Not entirely true. There is a cost cap of £10k of improvements so still exemptions for inefficient properties available.

UK Government sets out plans to improve energy efficiency

On 30 September 2020, the UK Government opened a consultation seeking views on a suite of policy proposals, setting out how they intend to achieve their commitment to upgrade private rented sector homes in England and Wales to Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Band C by 2030.

www.propertymark.co.uk

 

[theboytheboy]

Epcs are a f**king joke.

Had to rip a a perfectly working range and so replaced it with top end "blue flame" low emmsions boiler.

EPC system couldn't find the new boiler as it wasn't on the database.

New boiler was so unreliable it has now got the engine from an older boiler in it. (Not that an EPC assessment would notice)

Wonder what the environmental damage caused is by throwing out/replacing working appliances etc and replacing with new ones in order to tick a box.

 

[farmerm]

I think somewhere on the forum I have put the link to the black box that operates behind the EPC calculations that I found a while ago... We havent needed to do one since but I think we will all need to get in under its hood and work out where the holes are... most inspectors just want to get in and get out... they wont go to the trouble of squeezing out every last point and there are parts which subjective choices can make significant differences to the grading. I know this is true because we have 2 identical properties with 2 very different EPC calculations. Neither are really any more wrong that the other, both make some wrong assumptions! The better one could still be improved with more fine tuning! As I recall stupid things like what lights or electric heaters the tenants have plugged in can impact the ratings, they are not even part of the property!! Basically we need to do our homework, hand our version to the inspectors for them to review and sign off as their own