Energy Performance Certificates or EPCs - Get Ready says Letting Focus
OK, here is today's second blog - and time for another dig at the banks.
All landlords have to have an Energy Performance Certificate (or EPC) done on any property where a new tenancy starts from October 1st.
But here is an interesting tale that shows the potential confusion.
A reader emailed me today to say that he just had an energy performance certificate done. He got a lousy score so he had it done again. This time he got a much better score. I’ll let him take up the story…
“I invited the relevant Accreditation Scheme firm to whom the first Assessor was linked, to reconsider. This they did, both promptly and politely and wrote to me confirming the original assessment was correct.
However, the second one is now saying that they had assumed the flat was a middle floor flat (described quaintly by the first DEA as an "end of terrace top floor flat"). On reflection, they said, although the flat is accessed from the middle floor there are no dwellings above it and so it is as the first DEA described. A reconsidered report is promised.
As I understand it, I can avail myself of no overarching mechanism for checking both reports and delivering a final verdict on them. So far as I am concerned I cannot discover, unless I enroll on a DEA Course and pay my £3000, which, if either, is right.
I realise I could have said nowt and retained the latest EPC as being the best. I suspect Hazel Blears' civil servants wont be losing much sleep over this!”
An interesting tale and I expect many landlords will be confused come October.
Just to remind you, EPCs are another new requirement we will have to comply with and pay for. The EPC must be given to a new tenant and each EPC will last for 10 years.
The good news is that all existing tenancies that pre-date October 1st won’t have to have the EPC done until you re-let.
On a related theme, the real story on EPCs and whole HIPS saga in general is that valuation reports should have been part of the package made available to property buyers.
But the banks and the mightily powerful RICS were very worried about losing their nice little earner from doing multiple surveys for different mortgage applicants on the same property.
So they lobbied the government and muddied the waters. Some guff was spun about buyers not trusting a valuation report done for the vendor - even though it was the same RICS people who would have done the valuations.
Mmm, work that one out!
The government fell for it hook line and sinker and the valuation report was not included in the HIPs package which makes HIPs of limited use in speeding up the house buying process.
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING MEETING
Come to my next London seminar and networking meeting – details here… Property Seminar and Networking
The next blog will be published in two weeks time. Feel free to comment on the blogs.
ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
I’m David Lawrenson of property investment expert lettingfocus.com.
I’m the author of “Successful Property Letting - How to Make Money in Buy to Let” which for the last 2 years has been the UK’s top selling property title - buy the UK's top selling landlord book.
It is fully up to date with all the recent changes to tenancy deposit schemes, HMOs, licensing, capital gains taxes and it has new sections on buying property below market value.
I’m an expert property journalist, property speaker and a well known landlord blogger
I contribute to newspapers and a host of property websites, write a number of columns in the press and I can provide landlords coaching
I also work as a consultant helping banks, building societies, housing associations and web portals with their buy to let and property products and services and am a regular speaker at property shows.
You can read more of my blog & find details of my networking, advice, property mentor programme at my website.What’s unique about lettingfocus.com is that we offer you help as an independent property investors coach because unlike most people in the buy to let and property “advice” business we are not linked to a property company, a developer, an agent or bridging loan financier and do not receive commissions from any of these sources.If a property investment is lousy – We’ll tell you straight and we will tell you all about buy to let and property investment - the good and the bad and we won’t make silly promises that you’ll become a millionaire overnight.
Copyright: David Lawrenson 2008. This blog is updated once a week.
WANT TO BE KEPT UPDATED WITH OUR LATEST BLOGS?
It’s easy.
Look to the right of this blog and you should see my smiling profile. Then page down a bit and you come to where it says “Site feed” - click there and away you go.
You then just copy the link that comes up into your News Reader or News Aggregator. Even a non techie like me managed to do all this.
Please note if you are thinking of reproducing material here - that’s fine but we DO require the full links shown in each blog to be included including also the links in the section “ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON” Please contact us via the Contact US button at our main site http://www.lettingfocus.com/ if you have any queries about this.
All landlords have to have an Energy Performance Certificate (or EPC) done on any property where a new tenancy starts from October 1st.
But here is an interesting tale that shows the potential confusion.
A reader emailed me today to say that he just had an energy performance certificate done. He got a lousy score so he had it done again. This time he got a much better score. I’ll let him take up the story…
“I invited the relevant Accreditation Scheme firm to whom the first Assessor was linked, to reconsider. This they did, both promptly and politely and wrote to me confirming the original assessment was correct.
However, the second one is now saying that they had assumed the flat was a middle floor flat (described quaintly by the first DEA as an "end of terrace top floor flat"). On reflection, they said, although the flat is accessed from the middle floor there are no dwellings above it and so it is as the first DEA described. A reconsidered report is promised.
As I understand it, I can avail myself of no overarching mechanism for checking both reports and delivering a final verdict on them. So far as I am concerned I cannot discover, unless I enroll on a DEA Course and pay my £3000, which, if either, is right.
I realise I could have said nowt and retained the latest EPC as being the best. I suspect Hazel Blears' civil servants wont be losing much sleep over this!”
An interesting tale and I expect many landlords will be confused come October.
Just to remind you, EPCs are another new requirement we will have to comply with and pay for. The EPC must be given to a new tenant and each EPC will last for 10 years.
The good news is that all existing tenancies that pre-date October 1st won’t have to have the EPC done until you re-let.
On a related theme, the real story on EPCs and whole HIPS saga in general is that valuation reports should have been part of the package made available to property buyers.
But the banks and the mightily powerful RICS were very worried about losing their nice little earner from doing multiple surveys for different mortgage applicants on the same property.
So they lobbied the government and muddied the waters. Some guff was spun about buyers not trusting a valuation report done for the vendor - even though it was the same RICS people who would have done the valuations.
Mmm, work that one out!
The government fell for it hook line and sinker and the valuation report was not included in the HIPs package which makes HIPs of limited use in speeding up the house buying process.
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING MEETING
Come to my next London seminar and networking meeting – details here… Property Seminar and Networking
The next blog will be published in two weeks time. Feel free to comment on the blogs.
ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
I’m David Lawrenson of property investment expert lettingfocus.com.
I’m the author of “Successful Property Letting - How to Make Money in Buy to Let” which for the last 2 years has been the UK’s top selling property title - buy the UK's top selling landlord book.
It is fully up to date with all the recent changes to tenancy deposit schemes, HMOs, licensing, capital gains taxes and it has new sections on buying property below market value.
I’m an expert property journalist, property speaker and a well known landlord blogger
I contribute to newspapers and a host of property websites, write a number of columns in the press and I can provide landlords coaching
I also work as a consultant helping banks, building societies, housing associations and web portals with their buy to let and property products and services and am a regular speaker at property shows.
You can read more of my blog & find details of my networking, advice, property mentor programme at my website.What’s unique about lettingfocus.com is that we offer you help as an independent property investors coach because unlike most people in the buy to let and property “advice” business we are not linked to a property company, a developer, an agent or bridging loan financier and do not receive commissions from any of these sources.If a property investment is lousy – We’ll tell you straight and we will tell you all about buy to let and property investment - the good and the bad and we won’t make silly promises that you’ll become a millionaire overnight.
Copyright: David Lawrenson 2008. This blog is updated once a week.
WANT TO BE KEPT UPDATED WITH OUR LATEST BLOGS?
It’s easy.
Look to the right of this blog and you should see my smiling profile. Then page down a bit and you come to where it says “Site feed” - click there and away you go.
You then just copy the link that comes up into your News Reader or News Aggregator. Even a non techie like me managed to do all this.
Please note if you are thinking of reproducing material here - that’s fine but we DO require the full links shown in each blog to be included including also the links in the section “ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON” Please contact us via the Contact US button at our main site http://www.lettingfocus.com/ if you have any queries about this.
Labels: Domestic Energy Assessor, Energy performance certificates, EPC, EPCs, HIPS
This entry was posted by lettingfocus, on
Friday, August 22, 2008.
