EPCs needed for holiday lets in England & Wales from Jul

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kendalcottages
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Post by kendalcottages »

OK... thanks.

By the way, welcome to the forums, devokewater...
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Ben McNevis
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Post by Ben McNevis »

kendalcottages wrote:Aha... thanks. Since our apartment is a new build, is it possible/probable that we've had one of these done already?
Yes. Anything built from mid-2008 onwards has an energy certificate based on SAP rating which is done at build time and it won't need an EPC (RdSAP) for 10 years.
Cheers, Ben
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baltipine
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Post by baltipine »

This is in no way a recommendation but these people charge a flat rate of for residential properties up to 6 bedrooms £35 + VAT.

http://www.nationwideepc.com/
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Nemo
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Post by Nemo »

I just asked our park manager whether any of the properties had a certificate, because they have been built/refurbed on a rolling programme, so mine was finished early in 2008 I believe.

Imagine my surprise to be told that my property had been assessed in January 2009 (when I was purchasing it!) and therefore I already had one. I now have the pdf. So thanks Ben for raising this and making me ask the question of the park. I can tick this one off for a few years now! :D
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Post by camel »

The guest do not pay for the consumption are mostly out in London Specially. This just a way to extract VAT.
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Post by carolyn_savage »

Thanks for this information, have just had a newletter which mentioned it and I knew nothing about it.

Now to get one sorted.
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Windy
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Post by Windy »

A very helpful and professional sounding EPC assessor chappy I phoned up suggested to me that our lodges being still on wheels under all that decking would be exempt from thisrequirement.

I have tried to find something about exemptions on the various government websites but most are hopelessly out of date and only refer to EPCs as part of the now defunct HIPS thing.

[EDIT - I have just spoken to a helpful lady called Eve Martin at the Department of Communities and Local Government. It seems she drafted some of the advice documents. She confirmed to me that an construction which is portable is not callased as a "building" and will NOT need an EPC . Apparently they will be adding this to their web site advice along with a fair few other clarifiactions "shortly".]

As an aside I have now joined EASCO as they appear to be the only organisation who have any balls when it comes to representing us here in England. VB are about as much use as a chocolate teapot.
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Post by Annew »

My insurers (NFU) have told me that they have heard nothing about this and are not sure whether our properties need this as they are conversions (from very old barns) not new builds. We did have to comply with building regulations at the time the conversions were carried out, but I'm not sure what the standards are now.

Also, we are due to commence installation of a wind turbine, solar water heating and PV cells as a micro generation system for our farm and cottages in the next 12 months - how does that affect EPC's I wonder?????

So.... I'm still in the dark and I'm going to behave like an ostrich for the moment, unless I get some sort of formal communication from the relevant government agency or our local authority.

This whole thing sounds a little like the Fire Risk Assessment requirement for holiday lets which, as far as I can determine in talking to other local holiday cottage owners, has not been enforced at all!
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Ben McNevis
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Post by Ben McNevis »

Annew, you're right in that there's virtually no enforcement. It's up to the local authorities to enforce and they have other priorities.

If the barns were not used as dwellings before and the conversion was done from 2008 onwards, then SAP calculations would have been done (it's part of building regs) and you're OK. If not, read on:

Given that the certificate has a life of 10 years, and you're about to make major improvements which would make a huge difference to your scores, it may not make sense to get a certificate done now. One thing you can do is to place your order for an EPC with a local assessor but ask him to put it on hold until your improvements are done. That way, I think that you are safe if there was to be any sudden enforcement drive.

On the other hand, getting one done now might just point something out that you didn't realize was wasting bundles of energy - the common ones are missing/disrupted loft insulation and electric storage heaters on standard rate tariff, the latter not being covered by building regs and a favourite of lazy builders and developers.
Cheers, Ben
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Annew
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Post by Annew »

Thanks for the advice & info Ben!
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Post by greenbarn »

The latest news on the EPC fiasco is that EASCO have taken up the cudgel on our behalf, apparently having identified some legal issues that need clarification. The gist is that the wording of the 2007 regulations refers to buyers and tenants; the government are seeking to change the meaning simply by changing their guidance.

EASCO currently advise owners to be prepared for an EPC, but not to spend money just yet. They're posting updates on Facebook at www. facebook.com/eascouk.
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Nemo
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Post by Nemo »

I too have joined EASCO, (thanks GB for that) but I haven't linked to their facebook account because I only have a personal account and I don't want that associated with my business. Help, that means I need to create a facebook page for my business and I don't know where to start with that, even having read some of the threads.... :(
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kendalcottages
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Post by kendalcottages »

BenFrirnan wrote:
kendalcottages wrote:Aha... thanks. Since our apartment is a new build, is it possible/probable that we've had one of these done already?
Yes. Anything built from mid-2008 onwards has an energy certificate based on SAP rating which is done at build time and it won't need an EPC (RdSAP) for 10 years.
Thanks, Ben... sounds like I need to have a sift through all my paperwork from the builders.
Kendal Holiday Cottages Ltd., Kendal, Cumbria - between the Lake District & the Yorkshire Dales.
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apexblue
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Post by apexblue »

Any news?
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Post by Cotterdale »

Has anyone had any news about the Energy Performance Certificate do we need to get one or wait?
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