A property’s ‘sustainability’ should be taken into account in its valuation.
The RICS has come up with the proposal in a new paper.
It said that sustainability features can include an EPC, materials used in the property’s constructions, and energy-efficient boilers, but added that ‘a broad range’ of other factors, such as the home’s ability to adapt to occupiers’ changing needs and proximity to public transport links, could also be considered in its valuation.
The RICS said that while the issue of sustainability is not currently viewed as important to property market value, this is changing, and that valuers should be ‘fully aware’ of a property’s sustainable characteristics.
Ben Elder, RICS global director of valuation, said: “When calculating a property’s worth, the market doesn’t always take the issue of sustainability into account, but this could also have been said for central heating way back in the 1970s when people weren’t convinced it was going to have a market impact.
“With the increased emphasis on green living and energy efficiency, it is highly possible that the market will need to adapt.
“This new information paper offers advice to our members, recommending that they are fully aware of sustainability policy and the characteristics of individual buildings when valuing property.
“Although market awareness of sustainability has risen significantly, attention is currently focused largely on a home’s energy efficiency, propensity to flood and carbon emissions.
“However, a property’s sustainable status can cover a range of social, environmental and economic matters that can potentially lead to changes in demand and therefore affect value.”
Comments
@PeeBee
Lovely holiday thanks but down here on the South Coast Riviera things are hotting up nicely this week too.
Speaking of things hotting up our simple(?!) boiler replacemet has now had added to it a programmable thermostat (both engineers quoting so far fit them as standard) and yes thermocoupler has been the only issue on this boiler.
We are also now into a new cylinder/immersion tank.
Worcester (Bosch) I can get with 7 year warranty sounds best bet so far, not sure if that is boiler only or labour as well. Needless to say that length warranty only available through bigger contractors so can also look forward to +20% VAT on bill to help reduce the deficit.
Any change out of £3000 is going to be a miracle!!!
Agree 100% with your post on LAT today on light sentencing by the way "hundreds" of losers at "minimum £400" by my old school maths is a £80K at least theft.
Unhappy Chappy: I trust you are being sarcastic here...
If not - good luck! ;o)
Anyone ever heard of ground source heat pumps.
I am so impressed i may buy a company that makes them......where are my spare millions :0)
Industry Observer: Welcome back! How was the holiday? ;o)
Ahh - the good old Thorn Apollo Fanfare! Only three things EVER went wrong with them - thermocouple; gas valve; and the occasional unexplained explosion that flattened a street and a half radius from the epicentre!
(only joking - about the thermocouple, that is!! ;o) )
Now you are venturing into the realm of the unknown. Will it be a Combi? A Condenser? What about a Condensing Combi, even?
Whichever, expect the electronics to fail every three to six months maximum and the boiler be a write-off within eight years. Oh - and just like your new low-'e' lightbulbs, switch the heating on three weeks before you want to feel the benefit, mate...!
These new generation boilers are simply NOT designed to be married to existing pipework and radiators.
This without doubt is the most useful thread to me personally since I started watching EAT and LAT.
Why?
Because my missus has finally beaten me into submission and we are totally revamping our (mercifully small) kitchen and are starting by changing the boiler. It needs to be hidden in a false cupboard to match the other units and as it will be 24 years old next Spring. It is an Appolo Fanfare but heaven knows how inefficient it probably is now though it has given good service!!
We figure we may as well bite the bullet now as it will be a right sod to sort it when it does conk out (probably a month after the kitchen is finished!!)
So I am grateful for Tony and Outsider's comments, and Anonymous Coward I shall also ask the contractor to quote for a programmable thermostat too. I've never heard of that, only the timer programmer in the airing cupboard.
Its "worth" what someone is willing to pay.
In the words of the tv agents "I value this 3 bedroom semi at £250,000" 'cos that what i think someone will pay.
Alright,
This one is really addressed to the following as a test to see if this is a runner;
So, Rant, Sibley, BRIT1234, and damn it let's have my new mate cc and my old mate Will Hicks (what became of Will?)
If there was a property that had all the sustainable odds and sods - solar panels, boilers than run on your recycled turds and............well you know all the stuff above.
Would you pay more than the indexes / all the measures you talk about / use say?
Vote now.....................
Jonnie
What Tony says has a lot of merit.
People worry about the sustainabilty at point of purchase and then never give it a thought after.
The point about the boiler is particularly important.
How many of you have a simple thermostat in your hallway?
Most of you I'd guess.
The simplest way of saving money on gas bills without paying out for a supposedly efficient new boiler is to get a fully programmable stat that will take a temperature target for 6 different points of the day and run the boiler to meet those temperatures, rather than off for hours, then at full power to catch up, then back off again.
The stat will cost you £100 and pay for itself in 3-4 months during the winter.
And your house is always just right, rather than too cold, too hot, too cold, too hot and then finally just right.
My friend, a gas man, says that people always go for the lowest quote and trying to explain that to them up front means he will nearly always looses the job.
It's the same as telling a vendor that you can save them money in the long run by paying a higher fee - they just don't believe you...
Bob, you do realise that it at least the third time you have made that comment? Once to Wardy and twice to Fun Boy Agent. Please get some new thoughts!
@Tony
Same applies to wind farms!
This Fun Boy Agent bloke who posts all of these comments must be a lazy good for nothing employee??? Spends all of his time reading EAT when he should be leathering off the bosses car.
Tony, the problem with new boilers is that even intelligent purchasers take their brain out of gear when buying one. They take the lowest quote, which of course includes the very cheapest boiler that can be bought, and then they complain about the boiler not lasting.
If you bought a new Chinese car for £3,000, you might not expect it to last forever but show you a cheap boiler and you're hooked.
I have been noting the boiler make when I survey plumbers' and heating engineers' own houses and I'm still at 100% Worcester (Bosch) - including one guy who said he never quotes to install Worcesters as they are "too expensive".
As FBA says if its not there it comes off the value and if the punter feels that what is there is not good enough i.e. alloy doble glazing and the buyer wants UPVC then an offer is made and this includes kitchens bathrooms carpets decor wiring etc etc etc
"Energy-efficient" boilers are no such thing: gas condensing boilers are designed to operate at a temperature of 60 degrees, yet almost all supply radiator systems that rely on water supplied at 100 degrees, when the boilers are much less efficient. This is why you only see these boilers "pluming" water vapour first thing in the mornings - they are then operating in efficient condensing mode as the system heats up, but they then quickly drop off in performance.
These boilers rarely last more than 6-7 years, compared with 25 years for an "inefficent" cast-iron boiler, so you need to manufacture, distribute and install three of these boilers compared to one of the old sort, plus they are more complicated and need more servicing calls. It quickly becomes apparent that these boilers are far less efficient once you take lifetime costs (financial and carbon) into account. The disgrace is that the bureaucrats, politicians and eco-campaigners focus only on running costs based on standardised tests run in ideal conditions. It's the equivalent of people saying you should only evaluate cars in financial and carbon terms based on their reported petrol consumption, never mind the original cost of purchase, the maintenance costs, or how people actually drive their cars.
70's - 80's to this very day, central heating is considered in valuation. It is expected to be there, if not.. ! it comes off the value.. Doh!
Same for double glazing, insulation (wall, loft, floor), solar panels, wind turbines etc, add it or take it away as it is there or not. I am sure we all do this already! Don't we?
Does this suggest the RICS finally accepts EPC's?
The EPC already takes account of building construction materials and energy efficient boilers so perhaps the energy assessor could measure the distance to the nearest bus stop as well-job done!