Pandemic problems

[jpucng62]

The requirement for rental property to reach C level is by 2030 ( in 9 years time ) according to this website ( selling electric heaters).

https://www.electricradiatorsdirect....s-epc-ratings/

It is draft legislation, or proposals, that say EPC C 2025 for new tenancies and 2028 for all tenancies. We should know exactly what the legislation is in the Spring with the legislation going through in the Autumn.

The Govt is trying to bring forward this improvement in EPC levels. The Climate Change Committee wanted ALL properties to be EPC C, with no property being able to be sold without it (!) but the Govt diluted it to only the PRS.

[theartfullodger]

Anyone But Shelter.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Silly me. ! My software views are A.B.M.

[Gordon999]

The requirement for rental property to reach C level is by 2030 ( in 9 years time ) according to this website ( selling electric heaters).

https://www.electricradiatorsdirect....s-epc-ratings/

[Berlingogirl]

I am going to look now at what it would cost me to get my properties up to ' C ', if it will cost a disproportionate amount then i need to put a plan in place to sell them before the date.

My properties are not listed or in a conservation zone ( so no get out available), it will be down to me.

There's a limit to the amount you are expected to pay, but if you have several/many properties this threshold is unachievable unless you have LOADS of money in the bank. I don't have enough money and don't have enough rent coming in to be able to save up. I've done what I can to keep rents down over the years. If I'd upped the rents to the max I might have been able to save up enough to meet the cost. Quite clearly, it doesn't pay to be a nice ungreedy landlord! I've got a property coming up soon and I'll be getting every penny in rent I can possibly charge. For this particular property the rent for the next tenant will be over 20% more than the last tenant (bringing it up to max rent for the property).

[boletus]

Boletus: What does ""Charity; A.B.S"" mean in this context, please?? (probably my age)

Anyone But Shelter.

[theartfullodger]

The Telegraph?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/ruth-bloomfield/

Very happy to pay if either Ms B confirms she is writing for the article for the Telegraph (not what it was before the current mob took over), or the article appears in print.

Boletus: What does ""Charity; A.B.S"" mean in this context, please?? (probably my age)

[Berlingogirl]

Where are all these poor tenants going to go? There aren't enough rental properties to go round as it is. I had a house that was a D. Nothing wrong with it and it wasn't uncomfortable to live in. I'd done a bit to it costing around £2,500 - Upvc doors, extra loft insulation and lightbulbs. It was 1 point off a C but I did sing its praises and did manage to get the extra point. Phew! It's a 4 bed property with a family in it. 4 beds are rare. If I had to have to upgrade to a C there would have been no chance and this family would have had to go back to the overcrowded house they came from where they lived with relatives. Or go and live in a tent. I can see the ebay bids on tents going up!

[Hudson01]

Please show me (and my tenants) to the nearest exit!

I am genuine in my regret for my tenants, i will walk to the exit but i know for sure i will have to push them through, they are older tenants and will find it very upsetting to find a new home at their stage in life. If this bloody govt does not pull the rug from under us even more in the intervening years then it will be around 2026 when i sell.

[jpucng62]

I have properties where there is no gas - almost impossible to get to a C.

With those that I could get to a C, the cost and disruption to tenants which is rarely mentioned, make it impossible. I am retired and there is not enough time left in the game to get back the cost of this work and no guarantee that doing it uplifts the value of the property.

Please show me (and my tenants) to the nearest exit!

[DPT57]

Not even an option for me. My two Victorian properties are first floor flats in converted two storey houses. No right to clad outside walls and I don't know whether you could do just the upper floor anyway. My other properties are flats in 1980s 3-storey blocks, so again very limited in what can be done. I'd have to quit too. Given how many similar blocks and Victorian conversions there are in London, I would think that requiring EPC level C would devastate the rental sector here, possibly removing more than half of the current rental market, which would make it impossible for the capital to fulfil its national and international role as a centre of finance and the driver of our economy.

[Hudson01]

Wow !!!! That is some invoice....... more than anything out there, the EPC situation will bring about the biggest exit for small PRS landlords, me included, i know my tenants want to stay long term (they already have been there a while), and would be very upset with a S21 but i cannot in all honesty pay the amount that i would need too, it makes no financial sense, best to get out before 2028 and cash in.

[AlexR]

I am going to look now at what it would cost me to get my properties up to ' C ', if it will cost a disproportionate amount then i need to put a plan in place to sell them before the date.

I turned my Victorian end terrace onto a C by insulating all outside walls and roof and under floor. It meant refit radiators, electric switches and refit bathroom. I included a upgrade of boiler and radiators and spray painted throughout. It looked similar when finished but felt warmer and less damp. It started as a £12,000 job but when you add the extras it's easily double that. Make sure that the EPC person includes all work that you have done as if they can't see it they don't credit it. Luckily mine accepted written info from the builder. I phoned EPC central dept who were very surprised that I had managed to get my house with 3 outside walls up to a C rating.

[jpucng62]

I am pretty sure the plan to raise standards to a C will come into force and like many others, I have many properties that will struggle to achieve more than a D, particularly where I have replaced old storage heaters with modern electric radiators.

I am frustrated that unless you have GCH (and gas is being phased out!) it is almost impossible to get a C. I also find the assumptions based on the age of a property and the recommendations made for improving the rating ridiculous, eg solar panels on a north facing roof, or excessively expensive, eg floor insulation cost £4-6000, saving £25 per year!

I have started a petition to hopefully add weight to the current consultation. If you agree with me please sign it and pass it on to anyone else who might sign it. You don't need to agree with every word - but as LLs we need to persuade the Govt that asking us to bring our properties to a C on the current algorithm is simply going to result in LLs racing for the exit.

The petition can be found here

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/559700

Thanks.

[jpkeates]

The requirement to get to C would mean effectively leaving the business for me,

There's no sensible way to get from D to C for my own home, let alone some of my rental properties.
It's just a stupid idea.

[Hudson01]

This is going to cause me more stress than the pandemic too. Properties that don't reach a C are ones I'm going to have to sell. I just don't have the money to do them all up within the timescale, even with any grants I might be able to get. I've no idea where the tenants are going to live.

I am going to look now at what it would cost me to get my properties up to ' C ', if it will cost a disproportionate amount then i need to put a plan in place to sell them before the date.

My properties are not listed or in a conservation zone ( so no get out available), it will be down to me.