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When it Comes to Energy Performance Certificates, Landlords Just Can’t Win

by Sallust
10 November 2024 7:00 PM

Just imagine, as a Daily Sceptic reader, temporarily going insane and buying into the rental market. Next, imagine going even more insane and pouring your savings (or increasing your mortgage) into trying to kit out your rental properties so that they gain the highest possible Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) in a nod to the U.K.’s fixation at pouring astronomical sums down the eco plughole. You’d soon wish you’d never been born

That’s what the Telegraph’s Secret Landlord has done, but came a cropper when trying to improve a Victorian flat:

At great expense, I’ve carried out internal wall insulation and upgraded the electric storage heaters in my one-bedroom Victorian flat (I’d already fitted double glazing years ago).

There’s no gas and, given it’s a flat, no way to do something fancy with solar panels or heat pumps, so I elected to purchase two high heat retention storage heaters, which cost £2,500 with the installation.

I chose these top of the range models because I was assured they would help me achieve the hallowed EPC ‘C’ rating, which rented properties are required to have by 2030, up from the current grade ‘E’.

The assessor had already told me I only needed one heater to improve the score, but as I also wanted to improve the quality of a tenant’s life, I bought an extra – rather than a panel heater, which I could have done without lowering the EPC rating.

Having also installed lovely wooden flooring, I called the assessor and asked him to revisit the property. I still had a couple of years left on the old certificate, but wanted to get it done now to show potential tenants the new enhanced ratings.

Imagine my surprise when the certificate came back with a ‘D’, just one grade higher than it was previously.

Cue angry phone call.

“I did what you said, why have I not got a ‘C’?”

“You didn’t install 50mm insulation under the floor.”

“But it’s got floorboards, plyboard, insulated underlay and then wood flooring – surely that’s enough?”

“I’m sorry, Secret Landlord, you needed to insulate under the floor.”

“But,” I said, “I’ve been doing research on this and I worry it may rot the joists, there’s a fear it may breach the damp proof course and cause other issues.”

“They don’t care about that on the EPC.”

“So, what am I going to do?”

“I suggest you either rip up the floor and insulate, or accept the ‘D’. They’re changing the software in January, so you may be better off just doing it now.”

“Sorry, what?” I exclaimed.

At this point the conversation moves from the absurd to a Kafkaesque nightmare. The assessor continued:

“Yes, from January we have to measure all the windows, say what direction they’re facing and list the age. Electric heating will also potentially get downgraded because the new update includes heating costs and electric is more expensive to run. To be honest, I don’t understand why the Government is pushing heat pumps because having them could potentially lose you up to 11 points.”

“OK, so you’re essentially saying we’re having a window tax by the back door and the electric revolution they’re pushing is going to penalise me?”

“It’s a mess. The new tests will take double the time so the costs of an EPC will go up, I also wouldn’t be surprised if many assessors quit – loads left during the Green Deal.”

“OK,” I said, reeling from this new information. “What is it I should do?”

“Well, if you lower the ceiling by 400mm that will give you three extra points, you do have very high ceilings.”

Cue insane laughter. So insane, the assessor had to cut across my guffaws.

“But honestly, I don’t think the Government will stick to the ‘C’ grade, I think they’ll lower it to ‘D’. Also, they may drop that metric altogether as it’s measuring the wrong thing – it’s not in line with carbon reduction, and that’s what they’re trying to do.”

The Secret Landlord is thus left thousands out of pocket chasing an EPC rating being carried as fast as possible up the pitch attached to a pair of goalposts operated by mutating software. Even heat pumps turn out to be a liability.

The EPC is exposed as a pointless farce. The Conservative government proposed a £10,000 (previously £3,500) cap on landlords’ spending on an EPC upgrade. If that spending wasn’t successful in improving a landlord’s EPC rating, he or she could apply for an exemption. But the Telegraph points out that in almost every instance the real cost of ‘improving’ a property is far higher than 10 grand – in some cases almost four times. Difficult to imagine how you’d ever get the money back.

Worth reading in full.

Tags: Electric Storage HeatersEnergy Performance CertificateHeat PumpsSecret Landlord

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19 Comments
Oldest
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Jabby Mcstiff
Jabby Mcstiff
2 years ago

We can see from 1990 onwards as a period of utter shamessness in terms of stealing the wealth of our countries and now they have correctly concluded that they might as well experiment on us like lab rats. This is a lack of due diligence as much as anything else and if you don’t acknowledge this then there is no hope of improvement. The experiments have been going on for over a century is it any wonder that they become more brazen in proportion to our acquiescence. It is all very rational and very easily understood. Any perplexity is just wilful ignorance or cowardice which are probably the same thing.

48
-1
Jabba the Hut
Jabba the Hut
2 years ago

Not having the COVID vaccine is the best decision ever made… EVER!
Yep, thank f**k for critical thinking.

58
0
Jabby Mcstiff
Jabby Mcstiff
2 years ago

I honestly believe that the Covid scam is a case of the devil working for good as Goethe showed. People really are waking up to the global warming scam and I don’t mean those who we might assume would be receptive to such things but those who might’ve been considered spiritually dead before. There is a movement of spirit I think the lateness of the hour will call many people to arms. When it reaches a certain intensity everyone can feel it and they know deep down to trust that feeling.

59
-1
Castorp
Castorp
2 years ago
Reply to  Jabby Mcstiff

This is very insightful and very well articulated. You are absolutely correct.

18
0
Jabby Mcstiff
Jabby Mcstiff
2 years ago

This is not a new field, in terms of harmful yet profitable medical interventions. I say this because it was all there before, the dynamics of these structures. Maybe you were taken by surprise but if you were then you were essentialliy inviting catastrophe.It doesn’t matter just be prepared to sacrifice something if you have to.

11
-1
Jabby Mcstiff
Jabby Mcstiff
2 years ago

It isn’t difficult to understand in the age of mass manipulation. Lets say you have a toxic pill to sell. You will just use black magic mind control. So who do you go to when things go awry? It is a serious question.

10
-1
Mogwai
Mogwai
2 years ago

Evidence of intentional harm and that they want us dead/infertile/disabled number 897. Well, if Big Pharma and their bedfellows, the ‘regulators’ ( in name only ), know about all of the damage their ”safe and effective” products are causing but do nothing and they remain on the market, being pushed on the gullible masses, that sure as hell yells ”We don’t give a damn about your safety because we want to hurt you!” to me. Read it and weep.

”Over 10,000 categories of nearly 1.6 million adverse events – many of them serious and debilitating – brought to you by Pfizer!
You might not have heard it in the news, but in recent months, Pfizer’s pharmacovigilance documents requested by the European Union’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, have been released. They show that Pfizer knew about a sickening level of injury early on. An August 2022 document shows that the company already had observed the following scope of vaccine injury:

  • 508,351 individual case reports of adverse events containing 1,597,673 events;
  • One-third of the AEs were classified as serious, well above the standard for safety signals usually pegged at 15%;
  • Women reported AEs at three times the rate of men;
  • 60% of cases were reported with either “outcome unknown” or “not recovered,” so many of the injuries were not transient;

Highest number of cases occurred in the 31-50 year age group, and 92% did not have any comorbidities, which makes it very likely it was the vaccine causing such widespread, sudden injury.”

https://www.conservativereview.com/horowitz-confidential-pfizer-document-shows-the-company-observed-1-6-million-adverse-events-covering-nearly-every-organ-system-2661316948.html

42
-1
huxleypiggles
huxleypiggles
2 years ago
Reply to  Mogwai

Well, it’s panning out just as we forecast Mogs.

15
0
Mogwai
Mogwai
2 years ago
Reply to  Mogwai

Edit: The reality is much worse, as reported here. The figure is 5 million not 1.6 million.

https://twitter.com/_aussie17/status/1669109288009359360

13
0
Jabby Mcstiff
Jabby Mcstiff
2 years ago

I would avoid areas like intentionality. Because the force that motivates them is far darker and not so easily accessed. I accept and approve of all the findings but there is a bigger issue. We are becomng mor callous to the suffering of others and we need to stop this. Our counrtry will not survive much longer if we don’t speak to the truth.

18
-1
Jabby Mcstiff
Jabby Mcstiff
2 years ago

I don’t care my concern is everyone the door to the truth is never blocked. I am the real deal if you aren’t the real deal then you night as well piss offl. We have nothing to say to anyone but we keep the flame alive.

10
-1
Mogwai
Mogwai
2 years ago
Reply to  Jabby Mcstiff

Actually the door to the truth is always blocked if your name’s Walensky and you constantly lie through your teeth like it’s your job ( it is ) because you don’t want to face justice for the crimes against humanity that you’re guilty of. I cannot abide this vile excuse for a woman but the blonde lady in this 2min clip really cannot hide her contempt for the evil scumbag so it makes it worth a watch in my book, but Walensky is a delusional, pathalogical liar, no mistake.

https://twitter.com/TheChiefNerd/status/1668671777206153240?cxt=HHwWsMC98f2IqKguAAAA

8
0
Uncle Monty
Uncle Monty
2 years ago

i lost my best friend and a close colleague to ‘turbo-cancer’ early last year.
Both died within five weeks of initial contact with GP.
Both were told they had terminal stage four bowel cancer which had metastasised to lymphs and to liver and to stomach.
I shared all my misgivings about the vaccines but my warning went unheeded and were traduced by another mate as ‘far right’.
I am so pleased that my daughter and I refused but I worry for my wife and son who glibly went along with the nonsense.

Last edited 2 years ago by Uncle Monty
43
0
Orlando
Orlando
2 years ago
Reply to  Uncle Monty

Me too. A good friend of mine was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer on the day she gave birth to her daughter prematurely. At the time, doctors gave her 3 weeks to live. She completely ignored them, refused chemo and really leaned hard into “alternative” medicines which in reality were just vitamins, foods and treatments to bolster her immune system to fight it off. Her cancer was almost completely gone, and the experts were completely baffled. Unfortunately she still had a very weak, premature baby to look after which meant frequent doctor and hospital visits in the People’s Republic of Australia which was enforcing their no jab no healthcare policy. She was such a selfless person that she didn’t think twice about getting vaccinated in order to look after her daughter. Needless to say her miraculous recovery soon completely reversed and she died riddled with cancer after exhausting every experimental treatment money could buy, even travelling to Mexico to participate in a trial (ironically enough, of a experimental immune therapy).

22
0
DevonBlueBoy
DevonBlueBoy
2 years ago

IG Farben, that nice company that gave the Nazis Xyklon B

14
0
Dinger64
Dinger64
2 years ago

In all that is Gaia, What are we doing to ourselves!?
And, only today, news is released about the “breakthrough” of the worlds firsts artificially created human embryos!
I’m not against progress and I’m not a Luddite but when Ned Ludd and his gang smashed the looms to save their jobs, the looms didn’t fight back! We are messing with things that will!

Last edited 2 years ago by Dinger64
14
0

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