More Free Money For Home Owners - Renters Can Go Swivel

[bomberbrown]

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-2864445/Homeowners-offered-free-cash-insulation-government-reopens-Green-Deal-fund.html

Meanwhile, renters can swivel and continue to rent out poorly insulated homes. Landlords have never had it so good. The best that renters can expect is this new legislation in the link below and even this is not expected to be introduced until 6 years after being announced.

http://old.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/news_features/One-in-ten-landlords-have-low-EPC-properties

Edited December 10, 2014 by bomberbrown

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

It is a travesty.

[StainlessSteelCat]

Quite. It's not like it's that difficult to move a house from G to E as G basically means nothing has been done i.e. no roof or boiler insulation, no energy saving lightbulbs, no double glazing, open fire etc. I doubt you are talking more than a grand or so expenditure.

The one thing of consolation is that I suspect the Green Deal fund means you have to use approved contractors - and given the range of quotes I had for solid wall insulation, there can be much more £4K difference in them. A cynic, even a green leaning one, might think that it's basically free money for a few government friends.

Much more effective in my view was when there was hefty discounts in DIY insulation materials etc a few years back i.e. you could pick up a roll of loft insulation for a fiver.

Edited December 10, 2014 by StainlessSteelCat

[Wurzel Of Highbridge]

It should be national policy to demolish energy efficient buildings and replace them with more efficient buildings. This could be achieved via easy planning for a+ energy rated homes and additional tax applied to old pre 70's era housing stock.

UK Govt. like energy inefficient housing because it increases GDP and allows them to borrow more.

[OurDayWillCome]

The one thing of consolation is that I suspect the Green Deal fund means you have to use approved contractors - and given the range of quotes I had for solid wall insulation, there can be much more £4K difference in them. A cynic, even a green leaning one, might think that it's basically free money for a few government friends.

Spot on! If they really had any green intentions they would remove VAT on all insulation products - simple and fair.

[Bill D'arblay]

It should be national policy to demolish energy efficient shite buildings and replace them with more efficient buildings.

They should start with the Houses of Parliament. It should be replaced with a park and a memorial to democracy.

[hellsbells]

The whole energy rating thing is tosh anyway. Our little annex is a one bedroom end of terrace cottage. Toasty as anything with a wood burning stove (the wood is free) and original wooden shutters for the original single glazed sash windows. EPC rating is F with it staying at F for any supposed improvements that could be made. Our local energy assessor has suggested that we fix a piece of glass to the back of the shutters because then it is "secondary glazing" and would get extra points. FFS.

Another thing that would "boost" it's energy rating is to put PV panels on the roof - the fact that the roof is facing the wrong way and overshadowed by trees by lunchtime each day and could never pay back the investment and would therefore be ****ing useless is neither here nor there - in the epc calculation formula it would still make it more energy efficient.

One of my friends lives in a recently built HA house. The HA recently went round the whole estate, ripped out the (less than 5 years old) boilers and put in air source heat pumps instead. Guess what, their electricity bills have gone through the roof and the tenants are foaming.

All utter ******** I'm afraid.

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

One of my friends lives in a recently built HA house. The HA recently went round the whole estate, ripped out the (less than 5 years old) boilers and put in air source heat pumps instead. Guess what, their electricity bills have gone through the roof and the tenants are foaming.

All utter ******** I'm afraid.

Silly suds.

[hellsbells]

Silly suds.

[Boomer Baby]

More Free Money For Home Owners - Renters Can Go Swivel

No, Green Deal is a loan. The idea is that savings from reduced energy costs will meet the premiums but no guarantee this will be the case.

[kilroy]

More Free Money For Home Owners - Renters Can Go Swivel

No, Green Deal is a loan. The idea is that savings from reduced energy costs will meet the premiums but no guarantee this will be the case.

plus the loan is attached to the property, not the individual. I believe you can also apply as a renter, subject to landlord consent

[Guest_northshore_*]

Grants are back - https://www.gov.uk/green-deal-energy-saving-measures/get-money-back-from-the-green-deal-home-improvement-fund

[SarahBell]

Rented accommodation

You can apply for the GDHIF if you’re a landlord, unless you’ve received more than €200,000 (£160,000) of de minimis funding in the last 3 financial years.

You can also apply if you’re a tenant in social or private rented housing. The person paying for the majority of the improvements gets the money back.

You can’t apply for the GDHIF on behalf of your clients if you’re a managing agent.

[SarahBell]

Don't really agree with the thread title. A renter could just ask their landlord for improvements (the landlord may make use of the Green Deal). Not saying the LL would agree but the renter has the option to move to a more energy efficient place anyway.

And landlords can get tax breaks on insulation

https://www.gov.uk/landlords-energy-saving-allowance

What you can claim

You can claim Landlord’s Energy Saving Allowance for the costs of buying and installing the following energy-saving products for properties you rent out:

• cavity wall and loft insulation
• solid wall insulation
• draught-proofing
• hot water system insulation
• floor insulation

There is no reason for tenants to not have a well insulated property to live in.

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

Don't really agree with the thread title. A renter could just ask their landlord for improvements (the landlord may make use of the Green Deal). Not saying the LL would agree but the renter has the option to move to a more energy efficient place anyway.

option?

Just like we have the 'option' of longer leases than 6/12 months.

Landlord Ghostly?

[BalancedBear]

One of my friends lives in a recently built HA house. The HA recently went round the whole estate, ripped out the (less than 5 years old) boilers and put in air source heat pumps instead. Guess what, their electricity bills have gone through the roof and the tenants are foaming.

All utter ******** I'm afraid.

Sounds like doing things just to tick boxes. heat pumps can work well, but only when they heat to relatively low temperatures. For example, a heating system designed to work with a boiler will have radiators which are intended to operate at quite high temperatures. If the system is designed to utilise a heat pump, then oversized radiators or underfloor heating should be fitted which can heat the home using water heated to a much lower temperature. Simply fitting a heat pump to a heating system designed to work with a boiler is never going to result in an efficient system. No wonder the tenants are not happy.

[StainlessSteelCat]

Sounds like doing things just to tick boxes. heat pumps can work well, but only when they heat to relatively low temperatures. For example, a heating system designed to work with a boiler will have radiators which are intended to operate at quite high temperatures. If the system is designed to utilise a heat pump, then oversized radiators or underfloor heating should be fitted which can heat the home using water heated to a much lower temperature. Simply fitting a heat pump to a heating system designed to work with a boiler is never going to result in an efficient system. No wonder the tenants are not happy.

Yes, that the problem with the EPC system anyhow. As the previous poster indicates it's a blunt tool which gives some useful hints for improvements, and is indicative rather than precise in terms of things that would lower bills (and environmental footprint).

We did a ton of work to improve the comfort and EPC in our house - partly so we could get the higher feed-in tariff, and partly because it would genuinely make a difference through bill minimisation. We took our old house from a G to a C. It wasn't cheap - particularly the sold wall insulation but given the house needed re-rendering outside, and replastering inside - it was a no brainer to do it. Similarly, the solar panels weren't cheap either - but they lower our bills by more than a 1/3 and for 8 months of the year provide a "free" tank of hot water everyday. Payback will be around 7 years for us.

Our next step will be to replace the CFL bulbs (as they wear out) with LED ones. Already replaced the staircase's 11w CFL with a 4w LED - because frankly you don't need very much light to walk up stairs. Also did the same in my home office because it's small enough to be lit well enough by 4w. For other areas - 4w is simply not enough light - and we'll go a bit higher.

You need to apply a bit of common sense

[bomberbrown]

No, of course not. Renters (like me) do have the choice to move. They can also ask for improvements from their landlord.

Valid points, but not very practical in a real world environment. Draughty and poorly insulated homes, particularly Victorian conversions are not so apparent if you take the tenancy in the middle of the summer.

My original point was merely to demonstrate once again the negative side of renting in the private sector; either lump it, risk a revenge eviction or move out.

[SarahBell]

Valid points, but not very practical in a real world environment. Draughty and poorly insulated homes, particularly Victorian conversions are not so apparent if you take the tenancy in the middle of the summer.

Which is why the EPC should be used better.