Are you a landlord? Did you know your properties must reach a band E

Most landlords will be aware of the latest legislation which came into play in 2018 called MEES – which stands for the ‘minimum energy efficiency standard’, it was introduced in March 2015 by the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015.

Basically, this new legislation stipulated that from 1st April 2018, landlords of buildings under the scope of the MEES regulations must not renew existing tenancies or grant new tenancies if the building has less than the minimum energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of E. This means that if they rent a property in the private rental sector it basically needs to have a rating of E or better or else they would not be able to rent it out.

So, the first thing you need to do is get your EPC rating – this can be found on the first page of the EPC report. It is likely if you are renting your property already, there will be an EPC already lodged on the government software. You can check for this by clicking here and entering your postcode and address.

If there is no valid EPC for your property, you will need to get a new one. An EPC report is currently valid for 10 years. Once you have established your EPC rating – this will determine whether or not you need to take any action. So, should the number on the EPC report be 38 or less (i.e. Band F or G) then you will need to improve the energy efficiency of the property in question. If the rating is 39 or more (so band E or better) then you don’t need to do anything else to meet the legislation.

So, should you be in a position where you need to improve the energy efficiency of the property, which energy improvements will give you the biggest bang for your buck?

1. The biggest bang for your buck comes from updating an old heating system – it is pretty easy to gain a double digit improvement by installing a modern heating system. That means new storage heaters or a new condensing gas boiler. Most new boilers come with a 10 years warranty if you opt for a decent make like Worcester Bosch or Valliant – so opt for one of these if funds allow.

2. Swap all the lighting in the property for LED bulbs – this is really cheap to do since an LED bulb can cost as little as £1 now, but should you be hovering on an EPC score of 37 or 38 then it might just get you to a Band E (39 points).

3. Loft insulation is a really easy DIY job. Even if you buy the insulation online the material prices will work out at just £5-10 per m2. This again can make significant improvements on your EPC score.  It is worth mentioning though if you already have 150mm or more of loft insulation then adding an extra layer of insulation won’t really bring the rating up that much. If you have less than 100mm of loft insulation then this should definitely be considered.

4. There are still a few grants floating around for energy improvements so you can essentially get them installed for free. This is because the Government are very keen for overall energy demand to drop – so our advice here is get cavity wall insulation if possible. A new government initiative called the green homes grant, due to launch in September 2020 will offer homeowners grants of up to £5000 to cover home insulation and energy saving improvements.

5. The last suggestion might seem a bit strange, but get a decent company in to carry out the EPC survey. A decent surveyor will be able to input specific details about your property giving you potentially a higher rating by doing more research and going out of their way to gather evidence, but this all takes time and as we all know, time is money.

This is where some landlords engage in false economy by trying to source the very cheapest EPC they can find. The problem with that is that if you’re an assessor being paid let’s say £35 for an EPC it just simply isn’t economically viable to spend much time on each property as to earn a reasonable wage multiple properties need to be surveyed every day and therefore quality falls as the assessor is unlikely to want to spend time doing additional research or spend time gathering evidence which could significantly improve the rating and make the difference between a property meeting a band ‘E’ or not.

Just imagine how much more expensive it could be in the long term to say end up replacing a boiler in order to achieve an ‘E’ whereas spending a little more to get a quality assessor and report could be just a few pounds more but that may of allowed that assessor to just spend a little more time searching for evidence that could have made the property an ‘E’ or higher to stat with.

For example – did you ever put insulation under the floor, or insulate one particular wall? While most assessors will ignore this, a decent surveyor will be able to enter this detail into the Government approved software which will therefore give a more accurate (and normally higher) energy rating, money well spent in anyones book.

With NN Home Energy Surveys we offer all landlords a Free Landlord Property Energy Audit after your EPC where we’ll discuss with you our findings, recommendations and answer any questions you may have about making your property more energy efficient. Our EPCs are fantastic value at just £59 plus you also get the reassurance of a professional service renowned throughout Northamptonshire & Milton Keynes.

To book an appointment or If you have any questions about anything then feel free to give us a call on 07851 957628 or email us at: david@nnhes.co.uk