energy performance certificates

[tricot39]

Hi

I am totally confused. Am i right in thinking that we need to get an EPC to sell our house?

If so I want to get a decent one rather than the old rubbish an estate agent's mate will concoct! I have work contacts so don't think it would be tricky to organise.

I did a lot of work on this a few years back and planned our refurbishment to get up from an F rating to a C.

First question: has anyone organised an EPC on their own? If so how far in advance of marketing? Did your agent knock the cost off the fee? What does a bog standard EPC cost?

Second: is it worth my while? Will any buyers care?

Tia

If they cared about reducing emissions then there would be grants to make off-grid buildings more efficient, or they would be extending the gas grid or helping with the cost of installing oil central heating. Someone in a town can get a grant to install cavity wall insulation so they can pay even less for their heating (or afford to keep their house even warmer). Whereas the owners of a solid-walled off-grid house get no grant aid to install solid wall insulation. Why is that fair and how is it helping reduce emissions?

Not sure i understand the town and country divide there but i understand that you can get assistance for loft insulation or cavity wall insulation wherever you live.

I was gutted about not getting grant help to insulate our roof as it doesn't apply to rooms in roofs (new or original).

The EPC is totally about long term plans for carbon emissions quotas etc. But the government finds it difficult to tackle the subject and get elected so it is control by stealth - hence why it survived when the rest of the hip was shelved.

The first step to control is to measure and record the results in monster databases. Once they have a better record of the housing stock there will be strategy and targeted grant making. It will take years and years. Oxford uni and oxford brookes are doing a lot of work on it. All horribly complicated and controversial! There are outline plans for carbon quotas per person whatever your income...... I'm not sure whether die hard conservatives will oppose the socialist principles or welcome the opportunity for creating a free market!

If you have solid walls you can't have cavity wall insulation because there are no cavities. There is no assistance for solid wall insulation. The town/country divide is very real. People on the gas grid do not know they're born, really. Your point about insulation just goes to show the general lack of knowledge and understanding that also seems to inform government policy.

Like the majority, i live in a solid wall house and am not eligible for a grant to improve its insulation. I agree that this is unfair but can understand why.

My point about not understanding the town and country divide was in
connection with the distribution of solid wall houses. Your posts mistakenly suggest that rural dwellers have a monopoly on solid wall houses while urban houses are predominantly cavity. Huge tracks of town houses are solid wall - if not the majority. The grant eligibility is assessed on wall type not location.

I appreciate the cost/issues that rural/off grid properties face but you seem to be getting this mixed up with grant Eligibility in relation to cavity walls.

Clearly there are extra costs associated with living off grid but at least rural properties can choose other less carbon intense energy options that aren't practical in town. There are pros and cons to both locations.

It might be worth you reading up on carbon emissions and the environmental side of sustainability because these aspects definitely seem to be swaying government policy and outweighing the social and economic aspects. I can see why you might be disappointed and frustrated with policy decisions if you don't understand the drivers - 50% reductions in carbon emissions will be very painful for all of us.

By the way i don't work in government policy so don't shoot the messenger.

No mix ups. Merely that gas heated houses don't need grants nearly so much as off grid houses, solid walled or otherwise. Having solid walls AND being off grid is a double whammy faced by thousands of families, but no one is doing anything about it. Yet that is where most energy savings could be made.