The Energy Performance Certificate In Property Sales
Dom Donaldson is a housing expert.
Find out more about obtaining an Energy Performance Certificate at http://www.nationalenergyrating.co.uk
The headlines of late have been reporting that house prices are starting to rise again, and that by the end of the year, homeowners could be expecting to fetch prices that outstrip the hopes of the most optimistic economic forecasts. As such, there is likely to be a surge of properties for sale on the market and a whole host of prospective buyers clamouring to bag a bargain before prices rise uncontrollably again. If it’s been a while since you’ve been involved with the property market, then there are a few things that have changed. This is a brief guide about the inclusion of an Energy Performance Certificate in the new Home Information Packs and what it means to those buying and selling properties.
The history of the Energy Performance Certificate and the Home Information Pack is a long and winding road of changing goals and shifting incentives. Home information packs were originally introduced to make buying a property a more transparent process. The packs contain essential information about the condition of the property that is for sale, the title deeds, statement of sale and an Energy Performance Certificate. They are now compulsory for all properties if they are being sold or let to new tenants.
The idea of the introduction was to provide a truthful property report in plain English rather than including a convoluted and often jargon filled report by surveyors. It was hoped that this would speed up buying times and prevent sales being cancelled. The inclusion of an Energy performance Certificate in these packs has been to help make property owners and buyers more aware of the energy efficiency of a property. To obtain a certificate an energy auditor visits the property and completes a survey on insulation and energy consumption as well as the source of energy used for heating, cooking and using domestic appliances. The auditor will then enter the information into a computer using specialist software which will then generate an energy between A and G, with A being the most energy efficient.
The resulting report will make recommendations of how the potential homeowner could make the property more energy efficient, saving money on fuel bills and helping to reduce the carbon emissions associated with unmodified homes. Although there is no legislation at present to say these modifications need to be implemented, a system is in place that could well be used to ensure that the UK does not exceed agreed carbon dioxide emissions limits in the near future.
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