Are you worried about mandatory energy efficiency upgrades?

Reply to the comment left by Helen Smitj at 19/03/2022 - 09:32
This I believe is ECO 3, I don't get involved with the names, as we know, the Govt just stopped the last one just like that after being too complicated. I have a few people that ring me now & again to say Mick, got this & that/ I was allocated 60 boilers, so had to be quick.

Was a massive mad rush, needed tenants gas elec proof with name & address on, but many tenants only had apps, so we had to do some pushing & making tenant do a phone call (Yes that is too much for them to get a free £1900 boiler fitted).

Survey date deadline was a few weeks ago, & then deadline to fit boilers was end of March, but that's just been extended a few days cause shortage of boilers in UK.
I've had Ideal Logik C24 & C30 which I wasn't too happy about, as my Rolls Royce Vaillant boilers were 8 9 years old & doing brilliant, however I could say they was 8 9 years old & getting old & about to start going wrong more. So I bit the bullet. I also had about 20 Baxi duotechs 14 years old, so that was easy decision.
Big bonus is, I'm picking up all me old old boilers for spares for the remaining ones I can't change ie. PCB boards etc.

ECO4 is apparently coming out soon.Again I han't got a clue what this is either. I only learn what I need to learn.

I don't normally get involved when me tenants slag me off on Facebook, however this is the battle some of us Benefit Landlords have with our tenants. We do have to be persuasive sometimes.

This one person crying cause all they got to get me is a gas bill.

XXXX
I don't know if u aware or not, I'm charging u £150 pm less than what I can charge anyone else. All houses round your area are 20% more rent than what u paying.
I don't know if u aware or not. I don't even want your house as I don't want a lot of em, I'm only keeping your house for u and XXXX and kids cause I've got morals and conscience and recognise it's your home.
I'll send XXXX tomorrow me selling houses text, which I've started to send to people only after talking to em. If u unsure of anything, all u got to do is ring me.

XXXX, are u aware, all u have to do to get this boiler is get your gas and elec bill. That's it. U han't got to go to work for it. U han't got to save up for it. U han't got to shopping for it or negotiate with plumbers and Merchants, u just got to get the gas and elec bill. That's it. I'd be jumping for joy if someone was fitting me the latest spec top of the range more economical more efficient boiler and all I had to do was get a bill to save me £1500.
Why u crying to get a gas bill is beyond me as I'd be celebrating.

If someone offering to do me a brand new boiler to replace me 9 year old boiler that has more chance of breaking down and I refuse to fit the new un, I wun't expect em to fix me old one either as it would be my fault I ain't got a new one.

I'm doing these boilers at 5am in office cause I'm constantly having to chase people up 2 3 and 4 times.

Get XXXX to ring me tomorrow and hopefully you've understood things in a different way.
I'm actually charging u £1500+ a year less than market rent, that's approx £12,000 I've effectively gave u. Could have bought 8 boilers.

I'll 100% give u a reference for another house if u wish. U and XXXX have been and are impeccable. I can sell the house to a landlord u know if u like and give em £10,000 discount to keep u safe in your home. Many choices for u, as long as u kept safe.

I have had 2 boilers break in the past few weeks. I have been asking tenants for 4 months for paperwork, so they know it is their fault. They now have no hot water or heating & have got to wait about 6 weeks for new boiler.

I would argue that now is precisely NOT the time to be considering energy efficiency, as acting now could well result in unnecessary spending in some areas, and additional spending in others. There are too many unknowns at present to make an informed decision.
1. We don't know when any implementation dates will be
2. We don't know what standard will be required.
3. We don't know how MEES is likely to be remodelled to reflect the difference between calorific efficiency and financial cost
4. We don't know what price caps, if any, will apply. What is the point of spending £5k on a property now, if the regulations give an exemption for properties that have had £5k of work done since, say 2025.
5. We don't know what grants will become available. Again, imagine insulating all your external walls now only to find that there will be subsidies for this when the scheme is implemented
6. We don't know if or how there might be further tax changes towards finance cost for either private landlords or partnerships, or maybe even a reversal of these tax changes for costs associated with raising the energy efficiency of our BTL properties.
7. We don't know how various councils who are running selective or additional licensing schemes will make additional requirements.
8. We don't know how the Grenfell enquiry is going to affect the regulations regarding external insulation. Imagine installing this at a cost of tens of thousands of pounds, to discover that it doesn't meet some future standard and has to be re-done.

Oh great! I just had a new EPC done for one of my rental properties which was formerly rated as C. It’s now D - the guy said this is because the standards have changed over the last five years. So by 2028 they will probably have changed again…..

My last tenant is leaving end of this month. That my small 30 years portfolio ended of 3 houses finished. As a landlord though covid I felt we lost control if our properties. We could not evict even for non payment of rent. Anyone in the right mind can now see that landlords are seen as a nuisance to this government . I made my retirement but would had like to keep my portfolio but cannot trust the new world order of total green agenda

Reply to the comment left by Jessie Jones at 19/03/2022 - 20:01
Great wise words Jessie.

Reply to the comment left by Collydriver at 20/03/2022 - 13:34
Many more like u Colly. That's what this Govt don't get. Many Landlords (me included) don't want our houses any more, we only keeping them for the tenants & if tenant leaves, we selling. But keep pushing us too hard & we sell while tenant still there or try & evict & sell.

They don't want small Landlords, but small Landlords houses millions.

And what will happen if you rent out a leasehold flat and the freeholder refuses permission to interfere with walls, flooring etc to enable necessary changes?

Why not just rate property on CO2 emissions. Just got a D EPC. Advised that I would need to spend £6,500 on solar panels to make it to a C. This would mean a 20 Yr payback time as long as replacement or repair was never needed. The EPC stated that the average house emits 6 tonnes of CO2 a year whereas mine as it stands emits 3 tonnes a year so its already 50% better than the average. Why lay out a fortune for a small improvement?

Reply to the comment left by northern landlord at 12/04/2022 - 15:51
Wow 6.5k just to come down one grade. This is where Govt should come talk to us as many of us don't want our houses & are only keeping for tenants as it is, so if someone says u now got to spend 6.5k or 30k & u 60 years old & u want to pack up anyway, they have no idea. They all think we in this just for money & greedy robbing Landlords.
Yes we may have started for the money years ago just as many self employed people do, but some of us are ending up turning into charitable organisations.

Reply to the comment left by northern landlord at 12/04/2022 - 15:51
You should have asked "Why not ALSO rate property on CO2 emissions?" - if you read the consultation on energy efficiency standards you will see that this is very much on the cards although they call it "environmental impact rating".