Residential buy to lets

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
I read in the FW Government are consultation on raising the EPC minimum for let property from E to C by 2025.... :bag:

That will be a very big challenge for some properties and potentially dump some out of the letting market! Like yours to improve our sufficiently to get to C we would be looking at an expensive total gut and refurb with new insulated floors and walls... with the loss of internal space for the wall insulation we probably have to loose the downstairs loo in the process. Did you have to continue to pay council tax during your refurb?

Yep Telford wants the full whack.... :mad: Best option would be to say a Sprog or family member is resident in it and get the single occupancy discounts....

I suspect that in hindsight, it would be better to have knocked the 2 semi-det cottages down, and start again on the site! Got an elderly lady in the one, and we are waiting on her moving on to look at what to do!!
 

farmerm

Member
Location
Shropshire
Yep Telford wants the full whack.... :mad: Best option would be to say a Sprog or family member is resident in it and get the single occupancy discounts....

I suspect that in hindsight, it would be better to have knocked the 2 semi-det cottages down, and start again on the site! Got an elderly lady in the one, and we are waiting on her moving on to look at what to do!!
We come under the other Shropshire region, but I suspect they would be no different to Telford, especially going forward with council budget Covid black holes to plug!
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
We come under the other Shropshire region, but I suspect they would be no different to Telford, especially going forward with council budget Covid black holes to plug!

I think that once the Govt gave the green light on charging whether occupied or not, most took the money.... Pretty well impossible to avoid now I believe. I have heard of one Council charging tax on an unfinished new property!!
 

Timbo

Member
Location
Gods County
I read in the FW Government are consultation on raising the EPC minimum for let property from E to C by 2025.... :bag:

That will be a very big challenge for some properties and potentially dump some out of the letting market! Like yours to improve our sufficiently to get to C we would be looking at an expensive total gut and refurb with new insulated floors and walls... with the loss of internal space for the wall insulation we probably have to loose the downstairs loo in the process. Did you have to continue to pay council tax during your refurb?

I cant understand the mentality of some Owners who would rather drain every last pence of rent from their tenants and do absolutely nothing to keep the property up to a half decent standard.
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
I cant understand the mentality of some Owners who would rather drain every last pence of rent from their tenants and do absolutely nothing to keep the property up to a half decent standard.

There is a HUGE difference between proper maintenance of an old property, and the major refurb and expenditure required to bring a traditional cottage to Band C on an EPC. Even worse, if you are trying to maintain trad features on the property.

I was chatting with my Agents early this year, and she informed me that as expected, loads of properties were now on he market as Landlords costed the expenditure versus projected income, and found it a poor return.... Around here (and I am sure the same elsewhere) property rentals reach a ceiling, and no matter what you do to the property, it is a struggle to push a rent.

Short term tenants (3yrs and less) rarely give a hoot to anything other than headline costs, and Rates, EPC and heating bills are rarely a consideration.

We had woodburners in 3 properties, now gone. Looked nice but added too much cost to maintenance, even if they contributed to low cost heating for some, they were a no-no. Slap in a combi, and walk away... To be legal woodburners cost more than a gas or oil combi/annum on maintenance I found.
 
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I cant understand the mentality of some Owners who would rather drain every last pence of rent from their tenants and do absolutely nothing to keep the property up to a half decent standard.

You sound like you are treating rental property as a personal fun to do project, not a business!

The cost to bring EPC’s up could be 4 years rent, floors out, internal or external insulation, it’s all serious cash. I’ve only just got some of mine up to spec, evicting tenants in the process who didn’t want to leave nor care about the cold.

It’s a good idea in principle but all that would happen is rents will go up as supply plummets.

There is a HUGE difference between proper maintenance of an old property, and the major refurb and expenditure required to bring a traditional cottage to Band C on an EPC. Even worse, if you are trying to maintain trad features on the property.

I was chatting with my Agents early this year, and she informed me that as expected, loads of properties were now on he market as Landlords costed the expenditure versus projected income, and found it a poor return.... Around here (and I am sure the same elsewhere) property rentals reach a ceiling, and no matter what you do to the property, it is a struggle to push a rent.

Short term tenants (3yrs and less) rarely give a hoot to anything other than headline costs, and Rates EPC and heating is rarely a consideration.

We had woodburners in 3 properties, now gone. Looked nice but added too much cost to maintenance even if they contributed to low cost heating for some, they were a no-no. Slap in a combi, and walk away...

Exactly!
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
You sound like you are treating rental property as a personal fun to do project, not a business!

The cost to bring EPC’s up could be 4 years rent, floors out, internal or external insulation, it’s all serious cash. I’ve only just got some of mine up to spec, evicting tenants in the process who didn’t want to leave nor care about the cold.

It’s a good idea in principle but all that would happen is rents will go up as supply plummets.

I am scared to do the numbers on what the Cottage we did earlier this year actually cost... :sneaky: Just get's lost in the end of year accounts, but gut instinct that it was ITR of 18month yrs rental... That was just insulating and re-plastering upstairs.

Band C will be same downstairs, replace downstairs bathroom
and change to oil from LPG.
 
I am scared to do the numbers on what the Cottage we did earlier this year actually cost... :sneaky: Just get's lost in the end of year accounts, but gut instinct that it was ITR of 18month yrs rental... That was just insulating and re-plastering upstairs.

Band C will be same downstairs, replace downstairs bathroom
and change to oil from LPG.

Just started another, need to get my man to advise what’s needed to get To C as we are gutting it. Trouble is will a c now still pass in 5 yrs or will it be classed as a D!?
 

Timbo

Member
Location
Gods County
There is a HUGE difference between proper maintenance of an old property, and the major refurb and expenditure required to bring a traditional cottage to Band C on an EPC. Even worse, if you are trying to maintain trad features on the property.

I was chatting with my Agents early this year, and she informed me that as expected, loads of properties were now on he market as Landlords costed the expenditure versus projected income, and found it a poor return.... Around here (and I am sure the same elsewhere) property rentals reach a ceiling, and no matter what you do to the property, it is a struggle to push a rent.

Short term tenants (3yrs and less) rarely give a hoot to anything other than headline costs, and Rates, EPC and heating bills are rarely a consideration.

We had woodburners in 3 properties, now gone. Looked nice but added too much cost to maintenance, even if they contributed to low cost heating for some, they were a no-no. Slap in a combi, and walk away... To be legal woodburners cost more than a gas or oil combi/annum on maintenance I found.


Completely agree on the woodburner front, but I don't on the Combi- when it goes wrong and they have zero heat and zero hot water. An immersion and 120l cylinder gives you afew days to get the boiler fixed...
 
What annoys me is ive just had to fit a combi that was b rated because it’s on their ‘approved list’ where as the one I wanted to fit was a+ but wouldn’t have counted!

Tick box exercise needs a bigger drop down menu 😡
 

exmoor dave

Member
Location
exmoor, uk
Quick question..... we have a let that has all electric heating (shortage heaters) and hot water (electric shower, cyclinder and immersion, undersink heater for kitchen tap).

The cyclinder and immersion is old and not particularly well lagged, it only feeds the bath hot tap and bathroom basin hot tap.

If we were to replace the cyclinder with a inline heater, would that count at all towards a better EPC? Or are we stuck putting in a rather pointless cyclinder?

I've asked out letting agent and not really gotten a answer
 

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