EPC Bromley Energy Report

EPC Demand

The demand for EPCs is increasing with landlords continuing to commission domestic energy assessors for the certificates in order to gauge the energy performances of their property portfolios.

On 1 April 2020, the MEES regulations are extended to cover all domestic properties with existing leases. This means that leases covering properties which are rated E or below will be invalid, regardless of whether they have already been deemed as compliant.

How Landlords can use an Energy Report

An Energy Report gives landlords information which is in many ways similar to an EPC. Landlords need to know the energy rating of their properties if they want to comply with MEES regulations and the Energy Report provides a cheaper way to do this. It will give them information on the energy rating before and after energy improvement measures are installed.

The Energy Report is easy to follow with any unnecessary clutter featuring on an EPC removed.

What Information does the Report Provide?

The information is presented in a way which is concise, making it easy to understand. It is generated using RdSAP methodology with the same calculations used by an EPC.

The following details are provided by the report.

Energy Rating – The current and potential energy rating of the property is prominently shown on the first page.
Recommendations – On page two there is a table with recommended measures. Each measure is shown with its cumulative ratings change. All of the measures would need to be installed in order for the property to reach its full potential rating.
Estimated Costs of the Property – The running costs of heating the space, lighting the property and heating the hot water are shown within a table. The estimated costs after improvements are installed are also shown.
Estimates CO2 Emissions – The current and potential CO2 emissions of the property are shown on a simple scale.
About the Document – Who compiled the report and a disclaimer related to the information contained within.
Data Inputs – Displaying the inputted measures and the assumed values used to compile the report.

Click on the links for further information on MEES, Energy Reports, or to book a survey.

Heating Control – Comfortable Home & Low Bills

It’s important to have an energy efficient boiler or alternative means of heating your home, but many don’t realise that it’s equally important to have a high quality heating controls in place too.

The greater control you have over your heating system the better you can stay in control of what you pay.

In the middle of winter it may seem like the right thing to do is to whack the thermostat up to 25°C and bask in the warmth. That’s all well and good but at the end of the month you’re going to pay for this extravagance.

It’s much better to be in control of your heating, set it to a comfortable level and have full say as to what temperature each room is set at.

If you had two identical homes with identical boilers and radiator systems, but one had a programmer, a room thermostat and thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) and one had no heating controls, the house with the controls would save around £75 a year.

Heating Control Types

Room Thermostat

Obviously allows you to set the temperature of a room, but its resulting function is actually to stop you burning more fuel than you actually require. As soon as a room reaches its desired temperature the room thermostat, in effect, turns off your heating.

It will then remain off until the temperature drops below your set level.

Always ensure that your thermostat is set to the lowest temperature you are comfortable with. In most cases and with most people this should be between 18°C and 21°C.

The key thing to remember is that you don’t have to turn your thermostat up and down depending on what the weather is like outside. Your house will heat up to your desired temperature regardless. The only difference is that in cold weather it may take a little longer as it is starting at a lower temperature.

Another key point is that your home will not heat up any faster if you turn the temperature on the thermostat up!

Ensure your thermostat is not behind a cupboard or curtain, it needs access to free flowing air. Also make sure it’s not situated next to a radiator or any other secondary heating sources.

TRVs

These have a very simple function, allowing you to adjust the heat of individual radiators in your home. They can save you money by allowing you to turn down the temperature in rooms that you aren’t using.

Never turn off TRVs completely. A cold room will effectively suck the warm air out of the rest of the house, like a heat sink, making it harder to heat the parts of the house you want heating. Ultimately it costs you more money.

Programmer

The time control for your heating system. This allows you to programme in your daily routine. Ensuring your heating isn’t on when no-one’s at home.

In order to ensure that the house is warm when you get out of bed, or when you come in from work, set the heating to come on half an hour early in each case.

In case of a change to your timetable, like being home from work unexpectedly, programmers will always have an override.

Don’t forget to check that the clock on your programmer is accurate, especially when the clocks go back and forward.

Smart Energy Controls

These are all the rage at the moment and seem to be well worth the investment. The most famous brands include Nest and Hive.

These controls are connected to the internet and can be accessed from your mobile phone wherever you happen to be. This allows you to adjust the temperature of your home remotely.

These controls also learn from your daily habits and programme in your daily routines automatically.

See other articles for ways to save money in your home, such as Hot Water Cylinder Insulation.

Energy Efficient Homes – Best & Worst Places in Britain

Everest, the company famed for double glazing, has recently compiled a survey of the best and worst areas in England and Wales in terms of energy efficient domestic properties.

They did this by analysing the Energy Performance Certificates of more than 15 million properties. Here are the results of that survey.

The Most Energy Efficient Places in England & Wales

Percentage shows how many properties are rated A or B overall.

Tower Hamlets – London – 29.22%
Greenwich – London – 19.92%
City of London – London – 19.67%
Dartford – Kent – 18.9%
Hackney – London – 18.85%
Uttlesford – Essex – 18.84%
Basingstoke and Deane – Hampshire – 18.47%
Cambridge – Cambridgeshire – 18.15%
Milton Keynes – Buckinghamshire – 17.29%
Southwark – London – 16.64%

The most striking thing to see from this list is the huge discrepancy between Tower Hamlets and the rest of the list. Most on the list have between 18% and 19% of their properties at an A or B level, whereas Tower Hamlets has nearly 30%.

This is due to huge investments being made by the local government here in order to ensure new build developments are as energy efficient as they could be.

The next thing to notice is that all of the top ten areas are in the south east, with half of them in the capital itself.

The Least Energy Efficient Places in England & Wales

Percentage shows how many properties are rated F or G overall.

Isles of Scilly – Isles of Scilly – 35.34%
Gwynedd – Gwynedd – 26.31%
Ceredigion – Ceredigion – 24.33%
Eden – Cumbria – 21.15%
Isle of Anglesey – Isle of Anglesey – 20.70%
West Somerset – Somerset – 20.54%
West Devon – Devon – 19.33%
Ryedale – North Yorkshire – 18.34%
Cornwall – Cornwall – 18.30%
Powys – Powys – 18.23%

As you’ll see, most of the places on this list are more remote and more exposed locations. Exposed locations won’t automatically make a difference to the EPC results, but exposed locations located on the west side of the country do have an issue.

The top three locations, Isles of Scilly, Gwynedd and Ceredigion fit into this category.

The reason being is that the western edge of Great Britain is exposed to wind and driving rain. This makes them unsuitable for cavity wall insulation, making wall insulation itself either impractical or too expensive.

Conclusions

This data shows just how effective an EPC or an Energy Report can be when it is being used to compare the energy efficiencies of properties around the country.

In this case the properties which are rated F or G will be paying, on average, three and a half times the amount to heat their homes that properties at an A or B level will be.

If you’re looking to improve the energy efficiency of your property, click here for some quick wins.

Is it worth improving your hot water cylinder insulation?

MEES 2019

The first stage of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) was introduced in April 2018. A year later, MEES 2019 has updated the previous conditions and landlords and letting agents need to be aware of the changes.

Main changes in MEES 2019

The main change for MEES 2019 means that from the 1 April this year, landlords have had to fund the installation of energy efficient measures in their properties themselves, in order to achieve minimum energy efficiency standards.

There is a spending cap, however of £3,500, including VAT, for overall improvement costs.

This means that the ‘no cost to landlord’ exemption set out in the Energy Efficiency Regulations 2015 no longer applies. Landlords are unable to use this exemption to prevent them making improvements to their property out of their own finances.

Third part funding may still be available in the form of Green Deal, Grants and ECO. However if those things are not available, from 1 April 2019, landlords have had to fund the improvements themselves.

If any landlords registered their exemptions before the 1 April cut off then they will still see changes. MEES 2019 means that their exemption period is no longer set at five years. Instead all improvements need to be made by April 2020 at the latest.

Landlords not meeting these minimum standards could face a penalty of up to £5,000.

This change should now future proof these regulations. Landlords are required to fund property improvements themselves when funding is not available. However their liability is clearly capped.

What next?

The next update to MEES will come on 1 April 2020, The regulations will then state that MEES applies to ALL residential property that is privately rented.

This means that if a property requires a domestic EPC, it must reach a minimum ‘E’ standard before it can be rented out. This applies to all leases whether new or existing.

The EPC Certificate, how does it affect you?

The EPC Certificate – How Does it Affect You?

When it comes to purchasing or renting a property, it is the person selling the house or the landlord who has the responsibility of obtaining an EPC. However, it’s still important for everybody involved to understand what the certificate is telling them.

Sellers

It is illegal to sell a home without an EPC in place. In order to obtain an EPC you should speak to your estate agent, or for better value for money, obtain one directly from an EPC provider.

Buyers

Ensure that you receive an EPC when you buy the house. Your solicitor should be checking this. Have a look at the recommendations it has and use it to inform you what improvements the property needs. You may even use it to negotiate on price.

Landlords

If you have a property you wish to let out you must ensure that you have a valid EPC in place. Not only that, if you are asking a tenant to sign a new lease you must ensure that the property has achieved a minimum rating of ‘E’. From April 2020, this rule extends to cover all existing leases too.

Tenants

Insist on seeing the property’s EPC before you move in. This not only ensures that it has met the legal requirements, it also gives you a good idea of how much the property will cost to run. This makes it easier to plan your monthly budgets going forward.

Understanding the EPC

The basic premise of an EPC is to show how energy efficient a property is. The main focus is on the Energy Efficiency rating, on page one of the document.

Here you will see two scores, one is the current rating, the other is the potential rating. The EPC will in subsequent pages show you how to get from one to the other.

‘A’ rated is the highest, ‘G’ rated is the lowest. Newer homes tend to have better ratings with older homes tending to have ratings of ‘D’ and ‘E’. The national average for a domestic property in the UK is ‘D’.

These other articles may also interest you

Tips for improving your EPC rating

Biggest EPC Wins

Moving Home Efficiently – Top Ten Tips

Tips for Improving your EPC Rating

There are many reasons to try and get the highest possible score on your EPC. The first is to try and ensure that your house is as energy efficient as possible. An energy efficient house costs less to run, saving you a potential fortune on your heating bills.

The other reasons are in terms of actually needing to achieve certain ratings. If you’re a landlord then your property MUST achieve an ‘E’ rating before you can rent it out. If you are looking for a Feed in Tariff (FiT) when you install a renewable energy product, then your property must already be ‘D’ rated.

Here are five top tips for improving your EPC score.

Insulation – The most important consideration can also be the cheapest too. Twenty five percent of a property’s heat is lost through its roof, luckily loft insulation is not only cheap, it is also one of the easiest things to install. Ensure you install it to a depth of 270mm (do not crush under boarding) in order to get the most benefit.Wall insulation is also crucial. Cavity wall insulation needs to be done by a professional company but it can be a relatively cheap process. Depending on government funding available to energy companies it can also be free.
Solid wall insulation can be very expensive but can also be the number one saver for energy bills in older houses.
Install renewable energy – If your home is suitable you should look into installing renewable energy. In almost all cases they will provide a large boost to your EPC score.Most people will think of solar panels when they imagine domestic renewables and Solar PV panels to supply electricity have been very popular. But you can also consider solar thermal panels for your hot water or biomass boilers or heat pumps to heat your home.
When improving your EPC, if you want your property to achieve maximum score then you MUST have some renewable energy in place.
Replace an old boiler – Heating makes up a large percentage of a household’s energy costs. If you have an old, inefficient boiler it will be reflected in your EPC score and, more importantly, it will be costing you more money than it should to heat your home.Look into getting an ‘A’ rated boiler and ensure that you have full control over the heating in your home. Also consider the installation of a room thermostat, a programmer and TRVs (thermostatic radiator valves.)
Get double glazing – If you have old, thin, single glazed windows with wooden frames then you shouldn’t be surprised to learn that a significant portion of the heat from your home is being lost through them.Get double or triple glazing installed. If it’s too expensive or it’s not possible, secondary glazing can be just as effective.
Replace your lightbulbs with LEDs – You can’t buy halogen bulbs anymore and there’s a good reason. Not only are they not energy efficient but they often only last a couple of years.Although replacing the bulbs will only have a small impact in improving your EPC and despite the fact that at first glance they seem expensive, when you learn that LED bulbs can last more than 20 years you realise that you’re actually going to save money.

If you enjoyed this article you might also like Biggest EPC Wins.

Biggest EPC Wins

I often get asked as to what is the biggest win when it comes to an Energy Performance Certificate. What improvements can I make to my property which will improve its energy efficiency the most?

This is especially relevant to landlords nowadays who are bound by the regulations set out by MEES. Before you rent out a property to tenants, landlords must ensure that the property has a rating on an EPC of at least an ‘E’.

Landlords enquire about double glazing or cheap solutions like replacing bulbs with low energy alternatives. In truth both of these are pretty small fry in terms of improvements.

Boilers

Generally people want to avoid expensive improvements such as replacing boilers. In truth if the property has a gas boiler, unless it’s a very old floor standing gas boiler with an open flue, a change to a more modern boiler is unlikely to make a massive difference.

On the other hand, if the property is heated by electricity then the heating system could make a huge difference. If the property is old or exposed and it is heated by electric radiant heaters then the rating is going to be poor. In this case the recommendation will always be to upgrade to high heat retention storage heaters or fan assisted storage heaters. The difference in ratings can be huge and drag an ‘F’ or ‘G’ property into ‘D’ or ‘E’ straight away.

Insulation

But what of properties that aren’t electrically heated? The answer is simple. The biggest gains can come from simply insulating the property properly.

Loft insulation

If the property doesn’t have any loft insulation then add some. Any can make a difference but the recommended amount is to a depth of 270mm. Not crushed under floorboards. Putting boards on top of insulation makes it as effective as the depth it is crushed to.

This is a cheap and simple way to dramatically increase rating. It’s also an easy DIY job.

Wall insulation

The other vital insulation consideration is walls. This is especially important in pre 1930s houses with solid walls. This can be very expensive but is always very effective.

For houses with cavity walls it is a much simpler and cheaper solution but also very effective and can produce a significant difference to your EPC rating.

If you require a Landlord Report or any other services, please feel free to contact us at any time.

If you require an EPC in any the following areas, please click on the links.

What is an EPC and What Does it Show? – EPC Bromley explains

If a home is on the market for renting or selling then it needs to have a valid EPC, it’s as simple as that. But rather than being a pointless piece of bureaucracy, EPC Bromley considers that it can actually be used as the instruction manual telling you how to make your property more energy efficient.

However, EPC Bromley has discovered that although people have the certificate they have trouble deciphering the information within it. So we’ve put together this guide.

What are EPCs for?

On a very basic level an EPC lets you compare the energy efficiency between one property and another. This is obviously useful information if you are looking to buy or rent a property.

Secondly it tells you which energy efficiency improvements can be done, how much they will cost to install and how much money they will save you once installed.

EPC Explained

Page One – Current Costs and Potential Costs

This shows you the estimates of how much your house costs to light up, to heat and produce hot water. It then shows you what these costs could be if you had the recommended energy efficiency measures installed and how much you could therefore save.

In this case you can see that this house could potentially save over £1,000 a year.

Energy Efficiency Rating

This is the main data that people are concerned with. It looks a bit like the ratings that are given to electrical appliances because it is.

The ratings are scored out of a total of 100 and these then correspond to the letters A-G, with A being the highest.

The two ratings show the level that the property is currently at, compared to the level it could achieve if all measures were installed. In this case the property is ‘F’ rated but could potentially achieve a ‘C’.

Top Actions

The top actions are also featured at the bottom of page one. These are the measures that could see the property reach its potential the most quickly. A full list is shown further on in the document

Page Two – Energy Performance Summary

This breaks down each and every element of the property into a description and a rating. This is to give you more information as to the construction of the property, the way it heats up, the way that heating is controlled and how the property is lit.

This property has energy inefficient solid walls and no insulation in the loft. However the boiler is considered pretty efficient.

Low and Zero Carbon Energy Sources

This list shows if the property gets any energy from low carbon sources. this includes renewables such as Solar PV or Solar water heating panels. In this case the property has none.

Heat Demand of the Property

This shows the expected heat demand of the property and how this will change if insulation is installed. This section is used for people considering installing renewable heating into their home, it enables calculations for Renewable Heat Incentive payments.

Page Three – Recommended Improvements

This is in fact the most important part on the EPC. It shows you in detail all of the recommendations, their costs, their savings and how much the property’s energy rating will go up once they are installed.

They are also shown in order of how important they are. It is a good guide as to how you should decide which energy efficiency measures to install first. In this case installing wall insulation will increase the rating from a 31 to a 50, an increase of 19 points which would take the property from an ‘F’ to an ‘E’.

The latter recommendations are aimed at people who want the property to achieve the highest possible rating.

Alternative Measures

This is a list of other measures that could further improve the efficiency of the property. This could list things such as air and ground source heat pumps. In this case it recommends Micro CHP.

Page Four – Other Information

This part has disclaimers about the EPC, who completed it, when and how they are qualified to do so.

Environmental impact

The last section shows the amount of carbon emissions from the property and how this impact could be lowered if all recommended measures were installed.

EPC Bromley hopes this guide has been useful. Remember, your EPC is public domain and can always be viewed at epcregister.com.

Energy Efficiency – A Continuing Government Failure

EPC Bromley has recently read a report by Frontier Economics, one of the largest economic consultants in Europe which suggests that all homes in the UK should be made to be energy efficient by the year 2035.

It includes the following actions which it recommends are taken.

All homes should be rated at least a ‘C’, using the A to G rating used on EPC. This target should be reached in low income houses by 2030.

All new homes should have a carbon footprint of zero by 2020.

All low income earners should receive subsidies to make energy efficiency improvements to their homes.

The subsidies should be tested to find the most efficient schemes. Suggestions for schemes include, include loans with zero interest, equity loans with low interest which don’t have to be paid back until you see your home and salary sacrifice schemes along similar lines to childcare vouchers.

Changes should be made to stamp duty tax to make sure people are encouraged to renovate their new homes.

Introduce tax allowances to private landlords and give 50% subsidies for social landlords if they install energy saving measures.

The report advises that in the current climate it is difficult to guarantee a return on investment which is above inflation but it still makes economic sense to put your money into the efficiency of your home.

This ensures that energy bills will fall and helps to tackle climate change whilst still keeping everyone warm. According to EPC Bromley, this report very strongly advises that the UK government should be doing far more to tackle climate change and using these suggestions would make a very good start.

EPC Bromley feels very strongly that a sting of governments have failed in the area of energy efficiency with so many stop/start schemes ultimately failing due to lack of investment. This report suggests that a national infrastructure programme would help, especially as so much of the housing stock in the UK is old.

Implementing at least some of these suggestions would not only improve people’s warmth and health, it would also help with the country’s commitment to tackling climate change.

Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) and Landlords

EPC Bromley has spoken to Landlords recently that were still unaware that their tenants have the right to request energy efficiency improvements to their properties and have had that right since April 2016.

Even more significantly, from April 2018 any properties that are rented privately MUST achieve at least an ‘E’ rating on their EPCs. Initially this will only apply when new tenancies are granted but from 2020 it will apply to any rented domestic property that is eligible for an EPC.

The good news is that you won’t be expected to make these improvements if it means incurring a cost. The costs of any energy efficiency improvements should be covered by government schemes which should be investigated.

However, landlords DO need to ensure that they have an EPC in place on their properties. These can cost as little as £46 from EPC Bromley and last for ten years.

The implications following an EPC mean that if the assessment scores the property’s efficiency at ‘F’ or ‘G’, the landlord will be unable to let the property until energy efficiency measures have been added to rectify this. Penalties for non compliance could be as much as £5,000.

In conclusion, landlords do have sufficient time in order to make efficiency improvements to their properties, but at the very least they should be ensuring that they have a domestic energy assessment and a valid EPC in place for each and every one. This will let them know exactly where they stand in terms of the future and investments that need to be made.

Remember the following dates:

1 April 2018 – When granting a new tenancy to either a new tenant or an existing one, you must have an EPC in place and the rating must be ‘E’ or above.

1 April 2020 – Regardless of the tenancy agreement in place, all properties must have a valid EPC in place and all properties must achieve an ‘E’ rating or higher. Failure to achieve this level will mean property cannot be rented. Non compliance may lead to fines.

For more information on Energy Performance Certificates please contact EPC Bromley.