Building regs.

Well EPC is pretty much an imaginary figure..

you don't have to use the council for building regulations approval.

Yes.

EPCs are a joke. Take as little notice of them as possible. The criteria to rate the house is rubbish, and many of the Assessors are not very competent in assessing the building - it is a 5 day course to become an Assessor, no previous experience required, and the cost is minimal, we paid £55 when we sold our house, he was here for less than 20 minutes, so from that it is quite easy to see that little work will be done to properly assess the energy efficiency of the house.

Meeting the current Building regs is what matters, so if it meets the requirements, there should be no problem in getting approval.

OK. So the *F* is not accurate.

For a conversion designed/approved and mostly built during 2024, what minimum level of thermal performance would have been required to meet BR? The builder whinged about the amount of insulation required!

He would!...

"Windows should be draught proofed and double glazed to achieve a U value not exceeding 1.4w/m2K (e.g. Low E glass and Argon filled) or Window Energy Rating (WER) Band C" .....

Dave

What's interesting is that you can't rent out a property with an EPC below E. Such conversions are often prime fodder for rentals because many people don't want to buy a property that sits surrounded by somebody else's land, even if there are rights of access.

You can get an exemption:

I wonder if getting a new EPC from a different assessor would result in an E, which at least means it's rentable.

It would be interesting to see the EPC condition rating (walls, floor, roof, heating etc) and whether there's anything in there that might have triggered an F. Perhaps electric heating may have pulled them down?

Theo

I had one at the previous flat. All the lightbulbs were low-energy. The guy assessed on the basis there were no low-energy light bulbs which he said he was required to do to ensure consistency between buildings.

I see that, and raise you....

Next door elderly neighbour passed away and their small unextended mid-terraced 2 level three bedroom house got sold to a property developer. It was a wreak, not updated since the seventies.

So after 4 months of stress and noise, their builders finished adding a rear ground floor extension and a 3rd level loft extension. We've got party wall damage in our loft; where they put in an RSJ on their side, which they need to fix... Grrrrr...

Oh, I though this would be sufficient luxurious space for a high tech modern family. We'd be getting new neighbours. Such fun!

Seems it's now well insulated. Their electricians were in happily stringing orange network cable all around the place, the painters were busy painting - all things grey, and the outside a rather unimaginative white. Not sure where their sewer vent pipe goes, it's missing?

I took a quick peep in one day (invited when someone (not them) blocked the drains), and surprisingly I saw many rooms subdivided, even the extension. Nothing like the official plans we'd had from the council.

A bit too grey I thought. Even darker grey wood framing. At night there is visible green glow above the front door, the tell tale position of a fire exit luminaire.

An office, a dentist? Commercial space?

Then I spotted on the front door SIX door bell pushes.

Ah, it's an AirBnB...

I predict these conversions are going to spread like wildfire around here, given local London pricing makes purchases more amenable for businesses than families....

That sounds like an HMO. An AirBnb would be less likely to have bell pushes because holiday lets don't tend to have visitors - would be more likely to have 6 key lock boxes.

Unless each 'flat' has a separate bathroom and kitchen, in which case they would be 'studio apartments'. Seems like there's no space for that.

You could check with your council if they have an HMO licence.

Theo

Probably been replaced by an Air Admittance Valve (aka Durgo) tucked away behind some boxing-in, I think technically they should ask before doing that, but ...

Have you looked it up on the EPC website?

On the assumption that little lot was done, how come it was rated F?

Vent out and in is required. The old style open soil stack complies, current thinking is to keep the piping internal, so the soil stack can go up to a vented tile on the roof. I'd have thought an external stack would be better, but they are not common on new builds.

In message snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net>, Timatmarford snipped-for-privacy@demon.co.uk> writes

Yes. Or it has been in the past.

Twenty five years ago, the previous owner of my house "built" an extension and got it signed off by building control. Subsequent investigation revealed that the inspector hadn't inspected (he couldn't gain access to do so), but had spoken by 'phone to the owner who assured him that it was all in order. Once my surveyor had had a good look at it, his assessment was shared amongst the local surveying community, and it seems that shortly afterwards the inspector took unscheduled early retirement.

Readers will no doubt be reassured to hear that the various errors and omissions have since been rectified.

Adrian

Highway access, parking and garden are included.

Something has!

Lots of new double glazing front and back. Folding doors to patio. I don't know if they dug a new foundation trench where the old garage doors were. The structure looks to be lightweight.

The ground floor is underfloor electric on some fancy tariff due to the solar panels. Upstairs is pumped radiators from an electric heater.

How long is that tariff going to last?

Yes. Rated F but they don't give any details.

Something is odd because that's showing an EPC of D, but searching the address has an EPC of F:

which may well be pulling it down. It reckons it's going to cost £2.1k pa to heat and light it, which is quite a lot for such a small space.

Should have put in an ASHP :-)

Theo

Shows a "D" EPC, not an "F"?

Seems it can be done. Count the cookers:

Try not to let your toaster set fire to your duvet ...