EPC rating - panic!!

[SunnyUpNorth]

We have just had an offer accepted today on a property. I am usually extremely thorough with things but have been doing alot of research on the property style itself and somehow missed that the EPC rating is F. This has only come to my attention as I forwarded the link to a family member who noticed it.

We are planning to use the property as a holiday let and for our own use initially, with a view to retiring there in the future.

Ive been reading up about EPC regulations etc and all the limitations of the current system today and now feel totally lost. When we found out we had been successful in our bid I actually felt really worried rather than excited.

I’ve read opinions where people think the incoming regulations of all properties having to be C rated can’t possibly be enforced due to the fact that approx 60% of current UK housing stock can never be rated above a D due to not having cavity walls/not having gas central heating/etc. That does make sense.

however I’ve also seen stuff about how mortgages might be denied unless properties are a certain rating, which also seems silly if the mortgage companies therefore had their business cut by the above 60%.

However I am slightly panicking. Some of the things we could do such as installing energy efficient lightbulbs etc. But the bottom line is are we going to be buying a house that we can’t rent out and that will massively fall in value as it may be un-mortgageable??

@caringcarer yes I’ve had a look on both the old and new EPCs to see what they suggested doing.

My concern is that the old one was only done two years ago and as far as I’m aware nothing has changed between then and now. It seems the previous report overlooked the loft insulation and cavity wall insulation in the newer part of the house but on the previous report there was a long list of things to do and then it would potentially be a D. So why when only two of those things have been done would it now be a D with potential to be a B.

The list includes things like floor and wall insulation, solar panels etc so quite big jobs. All seems a bit suss.

@SunnyUpNorth, maybe the old one was wrong. Very few houses would only have potential to become a D. That sounds odd. I've got some lovely old Victorian terrace houses and they are all D's. Can't get them to C's without either internal cavity walls and floors/solar panels on the roof. Both will cost in excess £16k in order for tenants to save about £60 per year with cavity walls.

It sounds a lot but not completely out of the realms of possibility.

For example the bands are :

A : 92+
B : 81-91
C : 69-80
D : 55-68
E : 39-54
F : 21-38
G : 1-20

So to go from the highest F to the lowest D would require 17 points.

The web seems to indicate loft insulation can add 10-15 points, and you have the wall insulation as well, so if it was a high F before it is conceivable it could bump up to a D with those things.

What was the actual value of the old certificate ?

Thanks @GasPanic i hadn’t realised the numbers next to the letters were the actual ratings 🤦‍♀️

so on the old one is was rated 30, on the new one it is rated 58. So there is the loft insulation and some wall insulation they have added on and they have also increased the percentage of lights with energy saving bulbs, so yes that might be enough to tip it into a D. Thanks for clarifying.

It sounds like a fortuitous improvement :)

28 points.

I suppose not entirely implausible. If you are concerned about it you can always get your own independent rating for about £100.

If lenders are restricting lending for holiday let mortgages based on EPC I am slightly surprised that they are not insisting on EPC as part of the survey (irrespective of there being one there already in place or not).

Without knowing more about the property it's hard to be sure.

It does sound like it is going to be an expensive house to heat, but with so little detail who knows. Maybe you can ask for last years heating bills as an example.