“However, some properties need them, especially if you have solar water heating or need a lot of hot water. In this case, you should make them as ‘heat tight’ as possible by adding insulating jackets that are as thick as you can get them,”. “Modern hot water cylinders have come a long way over the years, so you can also consider getting one with superb factory-fitted insulation, too,”.
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2. Replace your light bulbs: Replacing old-fashioned incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps or LED bulbs could score a few points on your EPC rating. You could also save money in the long run - for a typical 60-watt incandescent bulb; you’ll average around 1,200 hours of lighting before it needs to be replaced. A 6-watt LED bulb, on the other hand, will last upwards of 60,000 hours.
Energy assessor Christopher McFadden explains, “Inefficient lighting, like old incandescent bulbs or spotlights, can significantly increase your electrical bill if used for a long period of time.”
“Switching them for CFLs or LEDs is one of the simplest and cheapest ways to save you a pretty penny while also improving your EPC rating a little,”.
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3. Get cavity wall insulation: As most modern UK homes have a gap between the walls, cavity insulation has become the most common type. It’s also relatively cheap, averaging around £370–£500 for a typical UK home. However, this is not always appropriate for your home, especially if it has a narrow cavity like most 1930-1950s properties. If you have an EPC, it should detail if this is the case. Once installed, you’ll see a substantial benefit to your home’s energy efficiency if appropriate.
“Cavity wall insulation is another great way to boost your EPC rating while also saving money. However, you might want to get some expert advice, as installing it in homes that are not appropriate can cause major headaches in the future, like condensation and mould,” explains Christopher.
“Apart from older early narrow cavity walled properties, homes in high wind-driven areas or have damaged walls are not advised to get cavity wall insulation,”.
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4. Replace your old boiler: Your heating system greatly impacts your home’s EPC rating, and making it more efficient can add many points. When you install a new boiler, your EPC rating could rise by as much as 40 points. The minimum EPC rating is 39, so getting a new boiler could help you reach the required standard even if you don't do anything else.
Consider replacing your boiler with a heat pump, as these renewable devices are three times more efficient than boilers. Heat pumps cost anywhere from £7,000 to over £30,000 to buy and install, depending on the size of your home and the type of heat pump you’re getting, but with the Government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme, you could get £7500 towards these costs
“The boiler is the home’s primary method of heating. For this reason, it is understandable why switching it out for the most efficient model is the best way to boost your EPC rating. It will also save you tons of money, especially if you have older conventional or back boilers,” Chris explains.
“Like many things in life, however, ensure you get expert advice before going down this road, and check for potential grants or other finance you can get to help with the cost,”.
However, you can do other simple things to help reduce your heating bills that are not necessarily beneficial to your EPC rating.
“Some other measures that are not always reflected on an EPC include draughtproofing your home,” explains Chris. “It is a shame to waste energy heating air in your home only to have it ‘leak’ outside, so make your home as ‘airtight’ as possible,” Chris adds.
“You should also look at blocking off old unused fireplaces."
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The easiest way to improve your EPC score is to use an experienced assessor who actually knows what to look for and what questions to ask. Look up the EPCs for neighbouring properties on the EPC register and see which assessor gives satisfactory results for similar properties. Simply using the right assessor can boost an EPC by more than 10 points.
Try to provide documentary evidence and photos of all the invisible stuff that has been done to a house. A building control certificate stating a flat roof was replaced in whichever year (so must have X amount of insulation) isn't sufficient. The assessor will put "assumed none" if you can't show him photos of the roofer standing on the roof with Celotex and a tape measure.
I really think it is a bit optimistic on the part of "eco experts" to think that many landlords are going to be concerned about EPC. You can see from these forums how many are planning to sell up because of the Renters Reform legislation and because of Labour's absolute undertaking to abolish Section 21 evictions from their first day in office.
Landlords will be thinking of presenting their properties in a reasonable condition in order to sell them because the letting business has been destroyed by extremist legislation.
I actually wonder if presenting their properties in a reasonable condition is the most profitable way to sell.
The difference in sale price is often relatively small between something in need of improvement and something allegedly turn key.
By the time improvement costs, lack of rent while work is carried out before marketing, extra estate agent commission, extra CGT, etc is factored in is it financially beneficial to do anything?
I guess it varies around the country but in a static or falling market while valuers are in down valuing mode it may make sense to do very little in terms of presentation. Let someone think they're getting a bargain and discover for themselves just how much a few tins of paint and a bit of new carpet cost, especially if you factor in tradespeople to do any of the work.
You may be right about that, Jo. However, I have done a bit of work in all the flats, and made up the beds etc. I repapered a ceiling etc too. It's taken me about four weeks and cost very little money.
Sometimes a place can look very nice at first glance very clean etc’ and because of make believe of what people done in the past they might think it good.
However I seen a skip down the road full solid wood flooring that’s only been in a few years if it hasn’t been re/wired, re plumbed, insulation etc Its a waste of
time, same goes for Kitchens people putting them in without having services & re/rendering done first.
Very difficult to have a heart to do it when under HMO attack they are just waiting to give you a big unjustified fine.
I would have been ashamed to show anybody the properties if I hadn't repapered and repainted etc. I put down new carpet in one room, too, myself. I was pleased with the carpet because I cut it exactly - just used a stanley knife. I have had carpet fitters before where the carpet didn't lie flat because it was badly cut. I took my time, but the carpet fitters rushed the job.
I also painted the masonry and windows outside, and did heaps of gardening.
I haven't 100% decided to sell.
I know that the properties could be let without anything needing to be done, too - all bedlinen, crockery, cutlery, pots and pans in all the flats.
I am paying a huge amount of council tax, but won't have an income tax bill!
In another house which I haven't been letting, I am thinking of replacing the roof over the bay window. Should I use rubber or felt? The rubber is supposed to be a DIY job, but I don't do roofing unless it just involves expanding foam.
I like the rubber (EPDM) roofing. I've had several old felt roofs replaced with EPDM over the last 17 years or so and they've all been trouble free so far. It may be a DIY job on a shed but the crucial bit on a bay window is where it joins the house. If that isn't sealed properly there will be water ingress.
I was told an old felt roof was towards the end of its life back in 2002. Every time I try to get a roofer to quote for replacing it with EPDM they say there's nothing wrong with it and I would be wasting my money.
The lifespan of either product is probably largely down to the skill of the installer, orientation of the house and whether the neighbours cut back their grapevine/ivy/triffid before it grows under whatever roof covering and destroys it.
Thank you so much for that wonderful advice, Jo.
The price of an EPDM kit is not expensive. It costs £164 for a 3m x 1m bay window kit from Permaroof store. The kit contains standard grade RubberCover EPDM membrane, adhesive, sealant, gutter trim, flashing and fixings.
The sellers of the kits will often direct you to a local installer, but the installation pushes up the price. You probably know installers if you have had your felt roofs replaced with EPDM.
You can buy rubber of any size, of course, for your felt roof.
Installing a heatpump will not currently gain you any points on your EPC where as installing insulation in your roof space or upgrading your gas boiler will give you a better rating. Installing Solar PV on the roof will also give you points and save the tenant money . The government just has to work out how to incentivise landlords to pay for installation as any export tariff will go back to the utility bill payer. As a landlord I for one don’t want to be paying for my tenants energy costs.
Solar is a strange one now from an economics point of view.
Originally when the Feed in Tariff existed it was a complete no brainer. The owner of the panels got the FIT and the tenant got some free electric.
Now the owner of the panels would get nothing and because they're an improvement, not a replacement, they're not even tax deductible. For bills inclusive HMO landlords they may just about make sense if everything goes well, but it's very marginal. Electric bought from a utility company is fully tax deductible whereas the equipment to generate your own electric isn't.
I am more than happy to pay for the tenants' utility costs providing I have a deal for unlimited gas, electricity and water from the supplier - which I can get. I am just not sure that I am going to continue letting.
If I do continue, I want warm, clean tenants, not cold, dirty, mouldy ones.
No.1 is unnecessary aa no water tank. No.2 and no.4 is not a problem. That is solved for every property. No.3, only where the house has cavities. Yes, the assessor needs to state if not possible. However, they do not understand if can be done or not. Just state cavity insulation to be done, when this is not possible. EPC at present, the way they are assessed are not fit for purpose at all. Cavity insulation causes no air circulation and get dampness and mould. Air brick installation may help. Heat pump does not always provide sufficient hot water.
I am still trying to get my cavity walls cert’ for the black poly bead insulation that I had done in 2012, it was sent to the house and Tenants didn’t pass it on apparently. I have the signed Contract, Survey and installation date, nightmare and my EPC Knocked because of it.
I think storage tanks trickle fed in the lofts are still a good idea for flushing toilets etc’ It takes the pressure off the mains especially with Combi Boilers to stop them fluctuating when showering.
New Brick Build 48 acre Estate in Acton all mains so didn’t have enough water so increased the mains pressure causing my existing pipe supply to burst then its my problem. The thing about storage tanks they expect you to have legionella test Cert’ another cost to add to the other 10 Cert’s you have to have .
No.3 , Regarding difficult or narrower Cavities maybe should have said use poly bead insulation that fills every nook & cranny especially under windows but every difficult area.
Instead of blowing fibre type that gets stuck on wall ties and dirty cavities where mortar between the bricks squeezed in and left that way.
The Polly beads is a bit more expensive, contractors don’t want to do it because they need to seal off around air bricks and neighbouring properties better first, or not equipped to do it but a better job and less chance of moisture being transmitted.
When I have replaced windows I can see where the fibre one has not filled the cavity under the middle of the windows.
Anyway those 4 have been done years ago and with regards to the Boilers most now are Combination Boilers and often been replaced twice since they became popular as they don’t last as long as conventional Boilers and break down more often with the extra technology, valves, sensors and printed circuit boards etc.
New boilers are too expensive now because of the "boiler tax" - a very bad idea.
Yes even a straight swap Boiler is going to be £2’000.00 & VAT + £400.00 minimum = £2’400.00. much more to change the system per Property or Flat good game for Government.
Sadiq Khan in again forgone conclusion which is why we didn’t vote.
Too much media exposure especially ITV & LBC his face on there all the time promising everything for free to the Benefit Claimants and work shy living off the tax payers there seems to be a lot more of them voting than workers and have an incentive to do it and time on their hands.
Even 2 days before the Election following the tragedy when Police Officers were injured and a boy killed rip, on there several times getting exposure and what he was going to do, it was only the last minute we found out who was running against him, not a fair Election a stitch up.
Boiler replacement is more than that this year.
I had one done in November for £2600. This year the same company is charging £2995 for a straight swap or £3595 to change it for a combi.
However, that's a bargain compared to the British Gas quote of over £5000.
The last one I had done was 1750 inc vat, I had had quotes of well over 2000
I know you are both right I was keeping it realistic middle of the road, but the more it is increases a lot as it’s more vat tax.
I have settled for Vaillant over all quite good but not as reliable as their older
one. I have fitted cheaper ones too and there’s a good few those on the market.
However they needed replacing more often and a more troublesome and that condensing tank in the pottertons that gums up etc but there others that I have given up on. I have paid 12 to 19 hundred pounds just to purchase the Vaillant’s depending on which one I needed, some would work 2 showers but it down to your mains supply, you need good pressure and 25mm supply or forget it.
I had no such problem with conventional Boilers and massive hot water cylinder and 2 shower pumps but now we are down to energy savings.
Worcester are the best boilers Michael and Baxi are quite good I had a vailant that only lasted 5 yrs, now I go for the cheapest and throw them away when they go wrong
I like Worcester Bosch, too. I always bought the boilers and then paid somebody to install them, but now the cost of the boiler itself is so expensive.
I currently have 4 Worcester Bosch, 3 Intergas, 3 Glowworm, 1 Vaillent, 1 Ideal Logic, 1 Baxi and 1 Potterton.
The ones I've had fewest problems with are Intergas. Brilliant boilers but very few gas engineers will install them.
If I need a boiler ASAP it usually has to be a Worcester or Ideal Logic purely because that's what the available companies install.
Worcester Bosch very good I put them on parr with Vaillant. I had fitted Ariston Boilers at say time one under BG maintenance Contract, both troublesome usually flow switch blocking up but I mastered that one. BG engineers didn’t, they blamed everything including changing Corcuit
BG engineers are useless, I have a good local engineer I use and sometimes a company called Gas-Elec who are also very good
Circuit Boards before getting to the problem, they drained water and opened the valve to clear it but when reassembled leaked nearly impossible to seal. I found none of this necessary all I had to do on my other one open the back on the valve touch nothing else with a hand drill a 3 mm bit it’s done in seconds and replace seal. After 10 years I replaced both the difference was BG insured one had cost me the price of a Boiler and I had still to buy a replacement, the one that wasn’t insured had saved the price of the next but speak easy everything made illegal now. I had the Volkera boilers no thanks, I had the Baxi Combi and the famous Baxi back boilers back in the day some lasted 50 years no printed circuits to go wrong even the programmer mini minder was mechanical like a clock. All this now pails into insignificance with the Renters Reform Bill waste of time .
The vast majority of landlords must be thinking that, Michael, about the Renters Reform Bill, although the Section 21 part of the legislation won't apply to existing tenants on periodic contracts for some time.
However, as dreadful as that bill is, the fact that Labour has said that they will ban Section 21 evictions from their first day in office means that the delay in the Bill in relation to implementing the ban on Section 21 in relation to existing tenants is irrelevant. Also Labour has said that the legislation is "a good start" so what else do they have in mind!
Of course, if the Conservatives won the next election, the delay on the ban on giving notice to existing tenants on a periodic contract at the "commencement date" of the legislation would be something (assuming some landlords still have tenants - and many won't), but I don't think the Conservatives stand a chance of winning the General Election unless they scrap the legislation altogether. They have really damaged property ownership and I think double council tax on second homes is outrageous. What property owner would vote Conservative when the Conservatives have destroyed them - they'll stay at home.
OK we waited back to Strike we go, Election over our man back in place perfect.
I said from the start this rogue unnecessary so called Renters Reform Bill by Mr Michael Gove Housing Secretary had the ability to bring down Government, now lost hundreds of seats, he has his answer for the damage and suffering he caused.
You were 100% right Michael. So what can the Government do now to put things right? The Bill is now in the House of Lords.
Sunak has made clear that he is not changing course in any way, too.
The Policy’s they are hammering us with are that of the Deputy Prime’s Minister John Prescott’s in the Tony Blair’s Labour Government 2004 Act, so not much difference when the Conservatives are implementing labour policies
Very true, Michael, except Welsh Labour's reforms were far less extreme than this Government's Bill. At least Welsh Labour retained no fault endings to tenancies; they increased the notice period etc. but Landlords could live with the Welsh legislation.
For the majority of landlords, lifetime tenancies (except for certain probably unlikely events happening) are not acceptable at all - and that is the impending situation now.
Hi watch 5 star TV now, nightmare Tenants, slum landlords
For the first time ever I have Tenants chasing me for a Tenancy Agreement now that’s a big turn around it was always me chasing them for New or Renewals.
So I smell a rat why would that be, they must want it for Council to get housing allowance or something, is anyone paying the own way anymore .
Hi Michael,
I wonder if it is anything to do with the Renters Reform legislation.
There is a commencement date for the legislation, and depending on the tenancy type, there will be changes or not in the type of tenancy on that date. There will be three different categories of tenancy.
The first will be any new tenancy and they will be subject to the new rules i.e. landlords won't be able to serve a Section 21 notice in respect of those tenancies.
The second will be tenancies that were fixed term before the commencement date. In those cases, landlords will only be able to serve Section 21 notices during the fixed term. Once that term ends, the tenancy will become subject to the new rules.
The third will be tenancies which are already periodic. Those tenancies will only be subject to the Renters Reform legislation once the court reforms have been implemented - which could be never, in fact.
So it would seem that providing your tenancies are periodic you will be able to serve a Section 21 notice to gain possession for an indefinite period on the basis of that legislation.
However, those rules neglect the fact that Labour has said that they will abolish Section 21 evictions immediately. I imagine that they will have an eviction ban first before they modify the legislation.
We pay our own way Michael
I think the Government and the councils are making a rod for their own backs.
It seems to more & more will decide to stay put and be on Benefit and housing allowance, the numbers have increased no end in recent years because of the attack on landlords, I never seen less marriages, more divorces or so many single parent families with so many kids to work the Benefit system, how do they get pregnant it is it the immaculate conception. I hope Government can afford it and they’ll have the job or getting rid of them or continue paying them forever. The Government will have to pay us for them while they are in our property as we by no means to remove, have they thought this through or do they want a hand.
They haven't thought any of it through at all.
It's almost impossible for a great many low wage essential workers to not qualify for UC top ups, especially if they have children. Once they realise how UC works they often find having the second adult in the household isn't financially viable. By the time the cost of food, clothes and travel to work have been paid the second adult allowance is long gone. It also soon becomes apparent working full time isn't really financially beneficial. Especially if it is necessary to pay for extra travel to work costs due to working extra days.
It's a crazy system that discourages people from working to capacity and discourages two parent households.
This is a tired old article. Just had my apartment block reassessedand LED doesn't cut doesn't cut it 'lagging' tanks does anyong have that system? Putting in a effcicient boiler doesn't cut it neither does stuffing insulation in lowered ceilings. The assessment process doesn't take these into account. Green things like solar panels or heat pumps shift things if you have a sound building. The other suggestions in the article may be for buildings rated F or G
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