The Nationwide has quantified the cost of energy to properties with different EPCs - and that’s despite the Energy Price Guarantee.
Under the guarantee a typical UK household will now pay an average of £2,500 a year on their energy costs until next April - but not every property will have an EPC at or above the average.
Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner says: “Despite this intervention, energy costs are still going to be around 80 per cent higher than a year ago, even after taking account of the £400 energy support scheme discount.
“It is important to note that the cap is on the unit price charged to consumers, rather than a maximum bill a household can be charged. Running costs for less energy efficient properties tend to be considerably higher, leaving these households particularly vulnerable to price rises.”
Gardner says that average energy costs for the most energy efficient properties (those rated A to C as reported on Energy Performance Certificates) are expected to rise to around £1,800 per year, compared with around £1,000 a year ago.
He states: “Typical bills for D-rated properties (the most common type) are set to rise to £2,600 a year. Those in E-rated properties will be paying around £120 a month more than last winter. However, those living in the least efficient properties (rated F to G) will see average bills rise to circa £4,500, an extra £185 a month compared with a year ago, though these properties make up two per cent of the stock of housing with a mortgage.
“The cost-of-living crisis is set to disproportionately affect lower income households as they spend a higher proportion of their income on essentials (food, gas and electricity). Lower income households are also much less likely to have accumulated savings, so they will find it more difficult to cover the increase in these costs.”
Gardner concludes there is additional uncertainty because the blanket two year guarantee offered by the Liz Truss government was scaled back to six months.
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Here we go
Epc : every person controlled
Smart meters to control everyone ….
It's hard for homeless tenants to light camp fires outside their tents when homeless but will cost them a lot less......etc and won't have much of an epc
As a landlord I am NOT spending 10’s of thousands of pounds on my rentals, no way… sell, sell.
But I could have a crap solid wall house, but it gets a superior EPC as it has solar panels and a battery which makes zero difference to heating bills.
Or could have a heat pump which still makes an EPC worse. So I call BS.
Solar panels make a big difference to the water heating bill if you have a solar diverter fitted. From Easter to September all of my hot water came from surplus solar that would otherwise have been exported to the grid. Even this time of year about half of it is from surplus solar.
I wonder if the EPC in the real world makes that amount of difference, or is it more to do with the way people use their heating, those that don't work and those that work from home will spend more having their heating on all day, as will those that sit indoors with just a tee shirt on in mid winter
Also as the price has gone up, I am wearing more layers and heating less. I am hoping my bills will stay the same.
I agree, EPC will give a guide but probably more to do with tenant lifestyle. We haven't put our heating on yet but I hear people saying they are freezing, I guess if you sit around at home all day...
I built a property with polyurethane type floor insulation After carpeting the lounge with woollen carpet and good underlay there was a distinct reduction in energy useage. Further gas ketttles will reduce energy consumption.
If EPCs were an accurate measure this might be more believable but we all know that the EPC rating is just a figment of an assessors imagination!
Epc is a lot like climate change , a load of utter twaddle with no real world scientific basis and just another way of destroying the livelihoods of the working and middle class who’s only asset is often property
Yes George
According to WWF polar bear population increased 4 X since 1980
Hurricane record since 1900 no change in frequency or mag itude
Untill they re address EPCs we cannot assess a properly in real terms.This is due to so many changing factors that are constantly changing. The software needs to be more robust along with more a accurate way of deciding the rating other than mainly on the cost of the energy
As this is assumed. Some elements on the EPCs are very useful and will deliver savings. But newer technologies are not always seen as bonus due to the age & structure of a building effects the score massively. Not everyone will be able to afford the upgrades that are required for the better ratings and the savings are not that great especially in the short-term. Work is needed to be done before they are much a truer picture of the property. One measure which is under review is the occupancy usage on energy. But in the rental sector this is not necessarily going to work well due to the constant changes in tenants. It's never going to be perfect and it does require much more improvement
The government need to make some very important and clear decisions in relation to EPCs as the cost to invest will be huge.
I became an Assessor for this reason so I can assess my own stock. On this basis I sold one this year that without a 14k spend would not achieve a C so it was the first to go!
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