Respected agent warns industry is ‘sleep walking’ in to EPC nightmare

Agent warns Ed Milliband’s net-zero plans are ‘a disaster’ that will create a ‘landlords' graveyard’ in Northumbria and that EPCs are not fit for purpose.

 

Ed Miliband and EPC chartA well-respected Northumbrian estate agent has reacted angrily to Ed Miliband’s plans to ban landlords from renting homes with a low EPC, saying it will be ‘a disaster’ that will lead to a large-scale landlord exodus.

The agent, who wishes to remain anonymous, has told The Neg that many of the homes in his area are old, detached sandstone properties that are not even on the gas grid. Around three-quarters of them are in band D or E, so it will be completely uneconomic to bring them up to the required EPC ‘C’ grade.

From his own research, he believes roughly half of his landlords will react to Miliband’s plans by selling up when their current tenancies come to an end, which includes all those with properties in band E and about half those in band D.

I think the industry is sleepwalking into disaster.”

To compound the issue, even for those who do go to the expense of upgrading their properties, the results can be highly unpredictable because the system is not fit for purpose.

He gives the example of one of his landlords, who recently spent £42,000 on upgrading one of the area’s typical sandstone homes – insulating its walls and floors, buying a new heating system and adding extra loft insulation.

Shocked

The owner was shocked to find that It only resulted in a low D rating with a recommendation that he install solar panels or a wind turbine in the garden which would cost a further £25,000 but would reduce the tenant’s energy costs by £2,400.

The figures simply did not stack up. According to the tenant, they had never spent more than £1,600 on their energy bills, but the EPC claimed their normal spend would be around £4,200.

And it’s not just the cost, the agent adds, it’s also the disruption. To insulate walls, for example, a tenant needs to move out, as architraves, skirting boards and doors all have to be removed in what is often several weeks’ worth of work.

He concludes: “I think the industry is sleepwalking into disaster,” and that, “by the time they realise what is really happening it will be too late.”


3 Comments

  1. It won’t be a disaster if we all ignore it! I know that sounds radical but we have been told that without solar panels & heat exchange boilers our double glazed Victorian houses with new gas boilers & masses of loft insulation will never make band C. If they don’t make the requirements realistic Milliband & the rest of the Eco Mafia can go to hell!

  2. Let’s be honest whenever Government Ministers get involved in the Housing Market it turns into a disaster. Remember Ed Miliband is a failed Labour Party leader whose policies where flawed then and are flawed now! EPCs are a good idea in general but unfortunately a one size fits all just doesn’t work !

  3. Some comments I left elsewhere earlier.

    Yes it’s a shame that in 2024, the biggest threat to tenants homes is Govt and Councils and the constant retrospective changes they keep imposing.

    We’ll make em EPC A if u like, massive mould and condensation that sometimes hard to undo.

    Well these houses weren’t substandard till Govt said EPC D no longer acceptable. Tenants very happy with em and the cheap rent they were.
    All my tenants had a choice pay £600pm EPC D or I’ll buy you new build £1000pm EPC A and you’ll save £30pm on your gas bill. By the way the EPC D have already got new boiler windows doors etc.

    Sep24
    Proper thick he is.
    Cold and draughty?
    Come and tell that my tenants who’s got new boiler, new windows, warm home, but UNFORTUNATELY, still an EPC D cause of the way the flawed system works.
    And tell them we know u paying £200pm below market rent and perfectly happy, but if we get u to EPC C (which we know that means you’ll have to pay market rent £2400 per year more}, we’ll look good to the voters for doing what we say.
    And we’ll keep quiet about how we constantly retrospectively changing the rules after you’ve moved in and this causes more landlords to sell, but we’ll blame homeless on a local level.

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