Government consultation to increase minimum EPC rating to band C for PRS

This is really dire news. I have been talking about this issue coming as i thought it was 2030, but it looks like they are going for a quicker intro time.

Making a property D rated is very easy and doesnt cost that much, but to climb up to a C is much harder. The main issue is the solid walls in a lot of houses. I have 5 solid walled houses, so really i am thinking these need to be sold.

So many houses in the UK are solid walled. Can you even do external insulation in a conservation area ? Why would you want to render over a beautiful stone building ??

I need to speak to an EPC assessor to try get a proper insight on what i would need to do to make the properties achieve a C rating. All have new combi's, D/G, Loft insulation. Its just the doors which are wood, and the walls which cant be insulated. All the bulbs are low energy.

This is really bad news.

Reply to the comment left by John at 01/10/2020 - 23:01
If the properties are in England then you could apply for the Green Homes Grant & look to install internal wall insulation which is much cheaper than external wall insulation. If you have properties in conservation areas then internal wall insulation would probably be your best option to avoid any planning issues 👍🏼

Reply to the comment left by Everything PRS at 02/10/2020 - 03:45
OK if house has got quite big rooms. Lining the walls with say 72.5mm Kingspan foil backed insulated plasterboard with with adhesive or plaster dabs is the easiest and quickest and should just about get the U value below 0.3 (the maximum allowed) but will still take at least 3 inches off that wall dimension.

yes well said Dylan, its just how to do it with the tenants still in situ as no-one seems to want them. if i could get them out then i'd sell the lot and hopefully do it before the March 2021 deadline of property prices crash. But reality is i will not achieve this and therefore will be forced to remain a landlord.

If John's houses are brick built and have large rooms (such houses often have a bedroom which barely meets current size regulations for letting) then internal wall insulation is a satisfactory, though costly, solution. If, like the one we live in, they are constructed of solid stone with lime mortar which is designed to 'breathe', then internal insulation will interfere with the airflow, resulting in damp. Thousands of people live happily in such homes, many of which are also off the gas grid and not a few are in conservation areas. If these properties can no longer provide accommodation for tenants then parts of this country are going to have a huge homelessness problem. I am thinking of the Welsh Valleys, many seaside towns of the West of England and so on.

Reply to the comment left by dismayed landlord at 02/10/2020 - 07:23
I think a lot of people with solid-walled houses will have to kick their tenants out; unless they make it for new tenancies only. Trying to insulate an entire solid-walled house to make it from D to C is just too disruptive.

And are Councils and Housing Associations going to be made to do this?

Reply to the comment left by dismayed landlord at 02/10/2020 - 07:23I wouldn’t be sure of a property price crash next year. Prices may even go up more, even if the Stamp Duty exemption is removed, (And who knows Dishi Rishi may continue with it). Bank base rates look set to be incredibly low at 0.1% for another 3 to 4 years and with huge numbers of new arrivals each year and increasing birth rate, demand for property will for sure continue to outstrip supply probably indefinitely.

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 02/10/2020 - 09:25
No the social sector will not be subject to the C rating. That’s why this blatant discrimination against the PRS (one rule for them another for us) needs to be challenged in the Courts.

Reply to the comment left by at 02/10/2020 - 04:37
I haven’t seen that internal insulation - how does it work where the insulation meets with floors/skirting boards/ceiling/coving? Surely it will just leave an awful mess if the joins were left unfinished, and would punish rental and capital values - or we would have to get the finishing done at significant cost.

What about smaller bedrooms - many of which have already been lost to the PRS due to minimum room sizes. This could put more rooms under the minimum floor area and have a material adverse effect on some properties and viability.

There are actually two private members bills currently going through Parliament.
Both of which have been introduced for quite some time, so this is hardly breaking news.
Neither have had a second reading yet and will take time to pass through the process, that’s even if they actually get passed the 2nd reading.
Scaremongering isn’t great and very much below what this platform normally provides
Spell check wouldn’t go amiss either... unless Whales will somehow be directly effected