9:03 AM, 21st November 2024, About a month ago 1
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Spray foam insulation has made many houses unsellable and unmortgageable, despite a government eco scheme encouraging homeowners and private landlords to install insulation to improve energy efficiency in their properties.
According to the BBC, a quarter of the UK’s largest mortgage providers refuse to lend against homes with spray foam insulation in the roof.
This comes despite BBC research revealing that more than 250,000 homes – including PRS properties – in the UK had spray foam insulation installed through the previous government’s Green Homes Grant scheme.
Spray foam insulation is applied using a spray gun to roof spaces, walls and floors, making it ideal for tight spaces and unusual designs.
There are two main types: closed-cell, which hardens into a rigid solid and has been used to strengthen old roofs, and open-cell, which remains soft and breathable, typically used with a resistant underlay like bitumen felt.
However, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) warns there can be harmful side effects when installing spray foam insulation.
According to RICS, spray foam insulation can make it harder to spot roof issues as it limits visibility within the roof space. When spray foam covers the timber structure, it prevents a full inspection. For example, if there’s a leak hidden behind the insulation, a homeowner or landlord might not notice, potentially leading to rotting timber.
Closed-cell spray insulation can also put stress on timbers, restrict air circulation, and increase the risk of decay. Other side effects include poorly installed insulation causing damp and condensation, which can damage parts of the property. Once installed, spray foam is expensive and difficult to remove.
Along with mortgage lenders refusing to offer loans on properties with spray foam insulation, some estate agents are even refusing to list homes with the insulation installed, according to the Homeowners Alliance (HOA).
Paula Higgins, chief executive and founder of the HOA, said in a post on the organisation’s website: “For a lender, your insulation matters because it affects important factors such as the home’s saleable value and energy efficiency rating.
“As valuers appointed by mortgage lenders are finding spray foam roof insulation in lofts they are having to report it. And even if it is well applied, because of its very nature it is very hard to assess the condition of the roof above the insulating foam.
“This means most surveyors recommend that further investigation is needed. However, instead of investigating further, many mortgage lenders simply put these types of properties into a “too difficult” box and refuse to lend unless the spray foam roof insulation is removed.”
According to the BBC, five of the UK’s 20 largest lenders, including TSB Bank, Skipton Building Society, Co-operative Bank, Principality, and equity release provider Aviva, do not lend on properties with spray foam in the roof space.
Yorkshire Building Society and Metro Bank told the BBC they usually avoid lending on homes with significant spray foam.
More 2 Life, an equity release provider, will only lend if the foam was installed in a new build with proper documentation. Other lenders, like Lloyds, Nationwide, Barclays, NatWest Group, and Santander, assess applications on a case-by-case basis.
Mick Roberts, one of Nottingham’s largest landlords housing benefit tenants, told Property118 that the government is to blame for the issues surrounding spray foam insulation.
He said: “We keep telling Ed Miliband and the Labour Party this, but the government has no clue. The government funded this green scheme, forcing landlords to insulate tenants’ homes to meet EPC C standards with spray foam insulation.
“Then the lenders turn around and refuse to lend on homes with spray foam insulation. The government simply packs up and says, ‘Nothing to do with me.’ “
He adds: “They’ve left landlords and tenants in a mess. They must stop retrospectively changing the rules.”
A government spokesperson told the BBC it had “consulted lenders about this matter who say they rely on the views of valuers and surveyors on this issue”.
They told the BBC any measures fitted under government schemes must be done by a Trustmark-registered installer “to the highest standards with issues promptly and properly rectified”.
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Mick Roberts
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Sign Up9:57 AM, 21st November 2024, About a month ago
And Trustmark are good, but they are still normal human beings that don't work there a year later.
I had 46 free boilers fitted under one of the schemes Feb 2022 & lots of installations failed when Trustmark inspected. But that was it, Trustmark din't go back again.
And I'm now left to pick up the pieces 2+ years later.
I've had one internal wall insulation fitted. House has got damp & mould a year later. Why aren't these put on a central Govt database so we can contact the Govt a year later?