Electric vehicle manufacturers can’t meet government ‘EPC’ targets yet landlords are expected to

New electric cars are not a fair comparison though Mick.

A better one might be a rule to say that all ICE car manufacturers must modify all cars they previously sold to be electric.

Reply to the comment left by Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118 at 28/11/2024 - 09:03
But its not the manufacturers its the owners. So the comparison would be all ICE owners of Euro 3 emissions or less will need to change their engines. It’s just madness, the house/cars were never DESIGNED for this. You can’t successfully retrofit many especially based on a flawed EPC system. This policy just like the car one will go away as the “deadlines” and pressures mount.

Reply to the comment left by Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118 at 28/11/2024 - 09:03
Yes very good point I missed. The old cars that's in existence too.

Altered my notes to this at the end:
And here's another thing to think about, imagine telling all owners of old cars Ooh you've got to convert your cars to electric too-Cause that's basically what you telling Landlords to do on old houses.

Reply to the comment left by Jason at 28/11/2024 - 10:38
I've been saying same. Houses weren't made for this.
I've had one internal wall insulation been done by the Govt grants, one year later, we now getting condensation/mould.

Problem saying the policy will go away is that Landlords are selling now on that announcement, tenants are being made homeless, Landlords are doing work on the houses & so on.

Ed Miliband says he wants all private rented sector properties to meet EPC C targets by 2030
He can want all he likes, its not mandatory yet, and I doubt ever will be.
Plus he will be out of his job before then

Homeowners of older properties are not rushing out to upgrade their EPC. Why would anybody lay out thousands of pounds to save a few hundred pounds a year especially since by the time things like solar panels, which are a popular EPC recommendation, have paid for themselves it will be time to replace them and start again?
If I am still in the landlord business (which I hope not to be) or on this side of the turf (which I hope I will be) in 2030 I would rather just reduce a tenants rent by £300 year and be done with it. This would be preferable to spending the upgrade money and increasing the rent by a couple of thousand pounds a year to recover the money in a reasonable time.
On the electric car situation when cars and trucks started appearing there was no legislation banning horses and carts. It was obvious that motor vehicles were superior and horses and carts died out. The same goes for electric lights replacing gaslights and gaslights replacing oil lamps and candles. Their advantages over existing technologies was so obvious people bought into them. Currently electric cars offer no advantages in the public mind, they only do what existing vehicles do and come with concerns over high cost, range anxiety, charging point availability, battery life, resale values, expensive main dealer only repairs and service and high insurance costs.

There is a fundamental difference between landlords and car manufacturers. Cars can be manufactured anywhere, property cannot be moved - at least in the UK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp-bOCm3GWI

Reply to the comment left by northern landlord at 28/11/2024 - 11:31
Yep government spent billions on pushing fluorescence bulbs to replace incandescent ones back in the 90s what a waste of money that was!! If they waited 5 years later LEDs become mainstream which killed that in every possible way. EVs are not for everyone and the automotive industry is heavily investing in synthetic fuels which make much more sense than EVs for most. As for housing it’s just crazy talk to expect a hundred year old homes to be made efficient to a false EPC. Just focus on making sure new ones are built to a high standard. Insulate Britain are so naïve, there are so many challenges, cold bridging for example which explains why fitting external insulation to a Victorian house causes damp unless you take additional costly measures to reduce vapour. All this cost for zero gain only just reinforces its all crazy talk and will never come into force. This obsession with net 0 barking mad, where was China at COP29, probably opening another 5 coal power plants.

Reply to the comment left by northern landlord at 28/11/2024 - 11:31
Great words Northern, u speak the truth & common sense. Alas Govt don't get it.

Reply to the comment left by Jason at 28/11/2024 - 14:12
Yes & if these synthetic fuels takes off or Hydrogen, all this forcing of EV's & getting rid of combustion engine factories may look a bit silly.