Can we talk about EPC certificates and insulation etc

[Notcontent]

I have been reading a that the government is thinking of introducing measures to force all home owners to have an epc rating of at least C.

This is a very good idea in theory but I wonder what it will mean for all the period houses that are very difficult to insulate - e.g. in London there are whole areas where 90% of the houses are Victorian or even Georgian terraces.

I live in a small Victorian terrace. It was in a pretty bad state when I bought it and I didn’t pay much attention to the epc rating as I just needed a house I could afford. But just checked and it’s D - but also says the potential for it is D too? Very confused.

I recently renovated the house and did look at improving it’s energy efficiency but the measures suitable were quite limited. Have double glazing now and the small extension has insulation to building standards, as well as roof insulation. But nothing could be done to the original walls. I don’t know what the current rating is but could still be D. But there is literally nothing more I could do to improve it…

Has anyone looked into this?

We had an EPC done recently on our central London flat. Its surrounded on all sides by other flats and a shop below. Even the assessor said how ridiculous his tick boxes were, because some energy efficient heating gets a lower score than old style heating! Its a very hot flat and we have an air conditioner and fans, which get used FAR more than any heating. The actual energy lost, temperature inside compared to out etc isn't even assessed.

We are not intending selling and are well over 60 so not too bothered about this, we only paid £60k for the house so have had our moneys worth, only people that may miss out are the care home if we needed to sell, we have no close relatives that would inherit. I wouldn't be paying loads for insulation and other stuff as it wouldn't be worth it in payback over the years.

@Using4532, to be fair, insulation is one of the measures where you recoup your spend relatively quickly, providing it’s suitable and you can find someone to fit it. It’s inconceivable that any government would render swathes of older housing stock unmortgageable in the coming decades and suggest it is replaced. As architects say, “the greenest house is the one already built.”

The only way to effectively insulate a building like the one I live in is to tear it down and rebuilt. Some small measures like loft insulation will make a difference but for ASHP to work properly you can’t be doing bits and bobs.

For landlords spending money on improvements you can’t look at ROI. It is the tenants that would be saving money. The landlord would only see a return if they could charge more rent which I guess will have to happen or how else would it be paid for?

I know someone abroad who has ASHP and barely had any heating costs. Unfortunately something went wrong in the system a couple of months ago and they cannot get anybody to even look at it until April. And that is in a country where they’ve had the technology and qualified engineers for years.

Just looked on gov.co.uk and most house up our road of mainly 1930s semis and detached are D with a few E and F. The new terrace houses are mainly C.