Tenant allowed to challenge new EPC rating?

Tenant allowed to challenge new EPC rating?

0:02 AM, 14th March 2024, About 8 months ago 31

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Hi, we purchased a property in 2.5 acres of land from a company that owned it as well as other adjacent land including a quarry. There was a tenant in situ on a periodic AST.

The tenant had been left for years basically doing what they wanted with no management and only one rent rise in the whole time they’d been there.

When we completed the purchase, we found the current EPC, which was 8 years old, had an F rating. There were 2 recommendations to bring it up to an E which we set to work doing and also some roof and chimney work identified in the survey. We commissioned another EPC company to do a report to ensure there were no further requirements as regulations changed.

The report identified the same 2 (roof insulation and cavity wall) plus we also added 2 more as they were easy fixes (cylinder jacket and thermostat).

The tenant has been at times, quite obstructive so we were relieved to be able to finally have the house reassessed and rated as E. We instructed an eviction specialist to handle the S21. After this was served, the tenants wrote us a nasty letter accusing us of all manner of things including damaging ‘their’ property and not upgrading their property and listing what they wanted improved and a timescale. They also stated that we had colluded with the EPC company to improve the rating.

The eviction specialists assured us everything was in place, and to wait for the date on the S21. The EPC company contacted us to let us know a relative of the tenant had contacted them purporting to be a Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA) with the same accusations. The tenant has complained to the EPC company several times insisting the rating is wrong and needs to be reduced.

Seeing as we primarily followed the previous companies report it’s a ludicrous accusation. Anyway the tenant has also complained to the accreditation people so now the assessment is being reviewed.

I’m astonished that the tenants can trigger the review process. The EPC people have been brilliant but have to go with the process. I’d appreciate peoples comments or similar experiences.

Thank you,

Caroline


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Caroline Crute

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8:51 AM, 17th March 2024, About 8 months ago

Reply to the comment left by S Page at 16/03/2024 - 05:06
It's a minefield of box ticking isn't it? I hope it all goes well for you. We've got an eviction specialist as the tenant has been downright nasty. Even though we have a letting agent, the tenant has also been very obstructive. The thing is, I get she's bitter that she's being evicted after so long but if it hadn't been us, it would have been whoever bought it. The corporation that owned it previously are responsible for a lot of this as they basically left her alone with a cheap rent, no inspections or any monitoring for 25 years so the tenant thinks she owns the place (it's like hoarder city)
The EPC company are pretty confident of their assessment so fingers crossed for a speedy conclusion. Keep us posted on your situation.

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