Thirty per cent of agents are not bothering to get an EPC at all, and a further 70% are not uploading the EPC details when they get them.
The Property and Energy Professionals Association (PEPA), which makes the claims, says agents are routinely ignoring their legal duty to provide EPCs.
Currently, the law requires agents to have ordered an EPC by the time a property goes on the market, and to have uploaded the details within 28 days.
But PEPA says that disobedience is so high, the regulations so poorly drafted and enforcement so feeble that the situation should be clarified, by requiring the EPC to be made available as soon as the property is listed for sale or rent.
The trade body, founded by Mike Ockenden, has called for the tweak to be made to the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).
Ockenden said: “I am not having a pop at agents. I wouldn’t criticise anyone's behaviour in today’s poor market. However, the regulations are likely to be rewritten anyway, and I think it would be sensible to include this revision – it would make things clearer for everyone.”
He said that since the suspension of HIPs there has been a “significant increase in the level of non-compliance”.
He said that as a result, EPCs are not being seen by prospective home buyers and “energy efficiency is simply being pushed off the agenda when it comes to the purchasing decision”.
He went on: “This undermines the Coalition Government’s policies on reducing energy waste.
“By including EPC graphs on all sales particulars before they can be issued, the problem of non-compliance will be addressed and prospective buyers will be aware of the energy rating of a home and the potential for improving it.
“This would not stop so called ‘first day marketing’ of properties, but it would level the playing field so that those agents that do abide by the regulations will not be at a perceived disadvantage when competing for a listing.”
Brian Scannell, chairman of PEPA, added: “It is hugely disappointing that we seem to be going backwards in providing consumers with the information they need about energy efficiency.
“A simple amendment to the regulations to require that the EPC graph is shown on all sales particulars before they are issued addresses non-compliance simply and efficiently without impairing the marketing of homes for sale.”
mikeockenden@pepassociation.org
Comments
@Chris.
You are a moron.
Traditional lightbulbs are to be phased out, everyone knows that even Tescos, however if you bothered to look further you will see that it will be 20+ years before you cannot buy a traditional lightbulb again. Fact. Who prohibits internet sales of such items, not only to the public but also to local independant hardware stores, no-one. I can pop down to around 8 shops in my city and still buy 100w, 150w and 200w lightbulbs no problem. They were phased out years ago. Besides, the difference between a house with 100% energy savings bulbs and 100% traditional is 1 SAP point - as the total for an EPC is 100 SAP points, that makes 1%. Even without a calculator you should be able to work that one out.
You come across as an ignorant cretin who thinks he is clever, but really you are just a pleb with a cheap suit earning sub20K pa who likes to think he is knowledgable. Its laughable to think you have beaten the system by getting people to 'borrow lightbulbs'.
Another thing, Victorian houses do not have 'single skin' brickwork, they wouldn't stand up for long if they did.
Seriously, what qualification do you have to talk about EPCs, from what I can see you know nothing about actual construction, less still about energy efficiency and further still, less about how an EPC is created, nor what it is trying to achieve. Its not about council tax, its about European Directive.
Your house is not A rated, you may have been told so by a sales monkey like yourself when you bought it, but it is not true. Look into the changes to Part L1B of the B'regs and see that E&W housing will go zero carbon in around 5 years - then you will see an A rated house. Any you will also be changing your mind about the EPC as gas and electric prices rise so far as to make gas an unviable source to provide luxuries such as central heating.
Honestly, just take your pictures and talk about 'current market conditions' you are not qualified to do anything else.
Me - Chartered Surveyor - contruction expert, manager and building control officer.
You - GCSEs. bad aftershave and too many opinions you know nothing about
See my blog on E(xtremely) P(ointless) C(certificates)
http://conveyancer2.wordpress.com/
Forgot to say. In the EPC, one principle of measurement is to check if the property has energy saving lightbulbs!
I warn my vendors about this check and do you know what many of them do? They borrow these bulbs from other family members for the inspection and give them back after he's been! Another example of EPC's that are inaccurate.
In addition to this, normal lightbulbs are no longer available to buy new anymore or should I say, once current stocks have expired, home owners will only have the option of buying energy saver lightbulbs going forward. If this is the case, why is this element contained in the EPC as properties marked down in this area will automatically change in the future anyway as all property will have energy saver bulbs. Stupid EPC's. Great in principle, let down in execution.
PS. Still the same anti spam question. Lucky I still had my calculator switched on. The answer is 14 by the way!
EPC's are inaccurate to say the least. Even Energy Assessors agree that the principles of measuring the property’s efficiency is flawed. A so called efficient house can obtain the same C-rating as an inefficient one. My 8-year old, A-rated house, bought by my wife and I early last year, had drafty wooden sealed unit double-glazed windows and half the loft was not insulated. I mean no insulation whatsoever! You could see the plaster board. Clearly an unreliable way to establish the efficiency of a property.
Lets face it, one day in the not to distant future, the government will be introducing higher council tax charges on all property that has a bad EPC rating or no EPC rating on the property (Because it hasn’t been bought or sold or let out) and people will be flocking to Energy Assessors to get their homes measured to lower their Council Tax bills, which is what this is all about anyway. Buyers know that a Victorian Property has single skin brick walls as apposed to cavity insulation walls of modern properties and therefore less likely to keep them warm in winter. They don’t need a piece of paper to tell them this, which is probably unreliable anyway, as mine was!
We still order EPC’s for vendors, mainly because we make a tenner each time, not because the government demand it, or buyers ask to see them!
In these troubled times, isn't it about time that dumb legislation is dropped for the sake of common sense and we go back to the old "Buyer beware" EPC's should be an option for buyers to choose when booking their survey, as simple as that!
PS. These anti-spam mathematics are hard, aren't they!! Good job I had a calculator on my desk. Lol.
Typo. . . . should read efficient.
EPCs are not there to benefit buyers, sellers or agents. Their purpose is to enable the (future) government to hammer with penalty taxes inefficient homes and reward with lower(ish) tax credits those homes which are inefficient.
Check out the car industry.
Also, if as an agent you cann't see the usp in a property with a good rating. Learn.
For Lettings yes, for sale it only has to be ordered. Dual standards, but thats the law. Poor agents are not bothered by little thing like the law, see other posts on ML Reg, Data Protection etc
Hail, Industry Observer.
In my view you are quite correct in saying that the EPC must be physically available to any serious enquirer, if asked, but my understanding is that one does not have to actually offer it without being asked? Of course the graph should be already shown on any details.
Hi Ray - yes now I reflect more on this I think you are right about the portals bit. But I have checked all my stuff and contacts on this and it is 100% correct that since October 2008 you should have an EPC physically in existence and capable of being handed out on viewings BEFORE any prospective tenant even makes an enquiry. In simple terms you have to be able to confirm to an enquirer verbally what the rating is and not just because the inspector has told you, but because you have the certificate in front of you. The relevant EPC legislation defines "marketing" and it is an even wider definition than deposit in TDP to the extent that even talking to a mate about it at the pub means you should have the EPC in your pocket at the time.
Industry Observer.
Not so. I am of the understanding that the full EPC had only to be available and only the 'graph' to be shown on sites and details.
Industry Observer- It just has to havew been ordered to market. and who on this site changed their choice of fridge due to energy rating??? The silly erson who said a valauable period proerty wouyld be worth less is clearly not an agent
Sorry just re-read the article and am I missing a trick or what with regard to the 4th paragraph. I don't know about sales but it was previously made VERY clear that in lettings the EPC has to be avauilable to be handed to any prospective tenant during a viewing. Indeed the 'ruling' on the wquery was that it had to feature in any particulars including portal listings.
Has this changed then?
What's an EPC ??? are they new or somat???
Just when we thought it extinct Ockendenitis is back!
However, the EPC is a legal requirement at the commencement of marketing for sale or rent and should obviously be complied with by a law abiding business.
BUT there is no requirement, nor should there be, for the industry to be compelled to spend time and money on promoting something that was not asked for, by the agent or the public and that legislators do not actively promote themselves.
@BigG
I think that EPC's are crucially important at will become more so. Over the next couple of decades energy prices are set to soar. That drafty Georgian terrace might not seem so attractive if buyers knew it was gonna cost £5k per year to heat.
Chris, how much detail do you think agents should go into? I will happily tell my clients that a 'current' score should be close to a 'potential' score. Not sure I will be advising them to fit solar panels to Victorian terraces in conservation areas.
Dear me so many knickers in so many twists. OK here is the definitive word for you all as far as any rented property is concerned. Let a property that is A rated anyway and you probably won't have a problem but why not spend £50 and sort it - see below.
But let a property that is draughty or cold etc and if the tenant doesn't get satisfaction from Landlord or agent (and they presumably won't because they didn't care in the first place) then if the tenant goes Environmental Health you are staring down the barrel at a full HHSRS inspection and probably spending thousands on replacement windows and a new heating system in extreme cases. Why is it that doing the job properly, not ignoring or trying to get round cheap Regs like gas, furnishing, EPCs and so on with silly contrivances which the Law hates seems more important and satisfying to some than doing it properly at cheap cost?
On sales I assume the problem comes when tit is discovered by solicitors that a property hasn't got one, but am no expert on sales.
I hate to come back to my favourite hobby horses but if property could only be let through regulated AND licensed agents then most of these contrivance problems avoiding Regs would be avoided (as long as not doing the job properly then meant being closed down)
Apologies Wardy, buit if you understand EPCs and have a client who does not then surely you have a duty of care toward your client to advise them about the details of the EPC.
Many of your clients don't ask about your add-on services, where you make an extra quick buck....but you still tell them ALL about it.
Is the fact they don't ask, really an excuse?
If the EPC isn't promoted by the agent, who will promote it to the public?
This is the equivalent of being in the playground and picked for the team you didn't want to play for and just putting in a half-hearted effort.
An EPC is a legal requirement. If your properties have a good energy rating and your target market for those props is young professionals/FTBs (and especially for lets), you're stupid if you're not using that as a USP.
Those buying cheaper properties, can't afford anything more. So the fact you can save them some money when they move in, is a trick being missed.
...And no, I'm not even a fan of the media-hungry MO.
Its about time that the EPC was made a mandatory part of the rental agreement and then landlords might just wake up to their responsibilities, or yes and the easy life letting agents too.
Chris, can I refer you to my previous comment. Nowhere in my post did I say I didn’t understand them. I said I don’t see them as credible in their current form. The fact you reckon agents should have to explain them to clients is in its self an admission that the public doesn’t get it.
EPC for sales, ok yes, as you are buying the house!
EPC for lettings - why? there is no need, its a waste, landlords wont bother with agents they will just let via gumtree and not pay the epc, also most tenants here in east london just about speak english, so an epc is just colours in paper to them....
Come on Wardy, get your customer service hat on and when you find a customer who does not know what an EPC is produce your office sample copy and explain all about it. If you want some back ground and supporting information get your local DEA to provide it and also perhaps for him / her to run a training session for you and your staff on the merits of the EPC
Dont wait to be asked for an EPC graph, be pro active and show the full EPC document to the client. Most vendors and landlords I meet think the EPC is just the coloured graph and are surprised to learn that the actual EPC is 5 to 6 page document. I wonder how many agents have never seen an actual EPC! Come one agents you are the people with the direct contact with vendors and landlords so get to it and highlight the value of the EPC to your clients. Did you know there is some new software avaialble via the EPC RRN number that enables clients to model the effect of improvements, if not then access an EPC and have a look at the link. You have a USP at your finger tips so USE IT!
Mr Ockenden,
Don’t forget to include the vested interest you and your new association have in making sure EPC's are policed. Their is a reason that agents and vendors are not bothering with them and why do you think that is? NOBODY gives a hoot about them, some of the people we talk to have no idea how to even read them. I have no sympathy for people who have jumped on the band wagon of an ill conceived idea and then moan because people are taking no notice. Why don’t you concentrate on making an EPC a credible document that people want and can understand that actually adds some value to the market, then you may get the backing of agents and vendors.
EPC's....buyers dont care, sellers dont care, tenants care even less, so whats the point? Buying a home is NOT like buying a fridge and I would defy anybody to give me a sensible and rational answer to the point of EPC's on a property. Anyone?
As sales agent, I've only had one person in the last 400 sales ask to see an EPC .... and he worked for the equivalent commission in Norway. Utter waste of time but its there for political reasons. I comply.
So what PEPA have done is taken the 30% decrease in EPC lodgements and claimed that a third of Agents are flouting the law, well Doh, how low were new instructions last quarter, EPCs validity of 10 years and best of all don't PEPA know the duty is on the homeowner or landlord to instruct?
MO will do anyhting for abit of publicity.
Some would say the same about a lot of Letting Agents!!
You can't really educate ignorance when it's inbuilt.
As letting agents we have yet to be asked for an EPC by a potential tenant. What a waste of time and money
Agree that this needs to be better monitored but just when you thought it was safe to go in the water ( cue 'Jaws' music ) , the Ockendon fish smells blood......