EPC confusion and work to carry out?

Like most of you I have done a lot to keep the property well maintained double glazed, loft installation etc negated moisture as for the rest of the EPC nonsense am doing nothing, come 2025 I'm out of it all up for sale sort that lot out Grove

We have original sash windows in an Edwardian property they're not perfect but the tenant loves them as she does the floorboards. If, and its big if, I wanted to replace the windows would this be tax deductible? We currently pay about £800-£1000 a year in income tax on the rental and I thought if I had to replace the windows could I not replace 1 or 2 a year and avoid paying the tax. Thanks 🙏

There is a Hug 2 grant available to home owners and tenants. But your household income needs to be less than £30k. So it applies only to low income, single persons or those on benefits. In other words very very few. However if the upgrades are likely to cost more than £3,500 then you can apply for an exemption on EPC C. However this is only for a limited time 3 or 5 years, then you have to apply again or do the upgrades. Get an EPC specialist who has some flexible attitude, do a survey and estimate the costs of each improvement. Take it from there. As soon as we get it out of our heads that the climate issue is NOT a crisis (which some scientists are now admitting) then we can take the slow road to renewables and energy savings and not force everyone into poverty doing it.

Actually the current exemption is £3500, but new legislation is expected to set the level at £10,000. Which is a lot to pay out and will take years to recover in rent. Not workable. This is NOT a crisis!

It’s all a big scam just like the experimental injections.
Composition of air:
Nitrogen 78.08%
Oxygen 20.95%
Argon 0.93%
Carbon dioxide 0.04%
If carbon dioxide reduces to below 0.02% then all plant life starts to die off.

Any time you do work to your property is an opportunity to make it more energy efficient. Whenever we do a bit of flat roofing we add insulation. Whenever a boiler is getting old and troublesome we replace with one with higher efficiency. With lighting this is the easiest way to upgrade with LED lamps. There is a marvelous type of roofing felt which is highly efficient called TLX gold. Its a bit dearer but worth using. Contrary to those who say do nothing I say keep chipping away at the problem. Even a front door can almost always be made more draught proof. Wood is nice but composites tend to have less of a draught.

Yes, Trevor Leigh, totally agree with you there. It's the approach we're taking at home and in terms of comfort and energy use it's working when we compare energy consumption from year to year.

Reply to the comment left by Jan at 19/04/2023 - 11:23
Common sense is a rare beast lol

Reply to the comment left by Ardee at 19/04/2023 - 12:16
Ardee, didn't you know that all private residential houses must reach a 'C' by 2035. I will probably be dead by then but I would like to look down and see what will happen. Will residents be evicted from their own homes? Laughable really. It would be better to ration the amount of energy everyone one uses so at least one has the choice to do the upgrade or if not, suffer the consequences.

Karen: Your description was spot on. Like many Landlords on this site I wish they would get on with this legislation so we know where we are. I have two large student houses and yesterday I heard one of them had reached a 'C'. It did not take a lot of work and what work I did was very worthwhile. It may put up the value if I sell. Roll on the devastating Renters Reform Bill. That's the next big hurdle for student houses!

1000s of tenants face eviction due to unattainable EPC targets on rental properties.
Example: To obtain Band C on some ground floor flats including one I rent out, will involve digging up the entire floor & insulating it.
So the tenant will need evicting, no rent for some weeks & £thousands spent. Most landlords will just sell up. As I shall.
Yet there's a serious fundamental flaw using EPC software as it is currently programmed.
Because the government's aim is net zero by 2035. But EPC software doesn't even take into account electrically heated properties are lower carbon footprint than gas because around 45% of electricity is now generated from renewable sources.
So at present in many cases gas heated flats have a higher carbon footprint than electrically heated yet have a better EPC rating because the EPC software is geared up to running costs, not carbon footprint.
So there'll be massive upheaval based on wrongly programmed software !
Now add in this factor.. Legal net migration 500k a year +illegals = 4000 new homes needed every week !!!
Most people migrating to live in the UK move into rental property when they arrive. So this government are boosting the demand to an unprecedented level whilst throttling the supply with their war on private landlords. Crisis looming
I wrote to my MP who forwarded my concerns to Lord Callanan who's overseeing all this.
Who then replied with a generic letter with no mention of adjusting EPC software to allow for green electricity !
I've since heard they will probably adjust EPC algorhythm for renewable component of Electricity. Is so then all electric flats should be bumped up by one or two EPC bands. We'll see