Are you planning to sell your house coming spring? Use energy efficiency to add £16,000 to its price! Here, Electric Heating Expert can show you how.
Historically, spring and early summer have been the best time of the year for UK home sellers to put their properties on the market. This time of year coincides with higher prices and faster sales.
Minimising our carbon footprint has gone mainstream and it is part of the consumer psyche. Consumers are taking fewer air miles, buying more efficient cars, and buying locally grown foods. The need to be energy efficient has changed how people in the UK make purchase decisions.
House buyers are doing the same. Property buyers are looking for homes with double and triple glazing, ground source heat pumps, rainwater harvesting and solar panels — features that can work to your favour when selling a property.
Importantly, this is not just empty rhetoric. Government research shows when you improve the Energy Performance Certification (EPC) of your property from Band D to Band B, you increase the value of your home by at least £16,000. Moreover, your efforts make your home more likely to sell.
Energy Performance Certificate
An Energy Performance Certificate, better known as EPC is a ranking system that ranks home from A to G. This certification is mandatory to have when selling a home. It is meant to give prospective buyers a better understanding of how the house will perform, the running costs, and whether the house needs some upgrade further down the line.
It is important to note that the EPC is important to have, not only when you are selling your home but when you are renting a property. New legislation that went into force on 1st April 2018 makes it illegal for landlords to rent a property with a rating of F and G.
Ways You Can Improve the EPC Rating of Your Home
While the benefit of giving prospective buyers an indication of the potential running costs and an estimation of the home improvements to make is to be applauded, the EPC has faced some critics in recent time. Some of the criticisms stem from where the EPC emphasises the improvements to be made.
For instance, the installation of solar systems and air or ground-source heat pumps can reduce your energy bill and lower your carbon footprint. The vast majority of post-war homes in the UK lose a lot of heat through the walls, roofs, and windows. As such, implementing proper insulation will reduce heat loss.
Does Installing Energy Efficient Double-Glazing Automatically Improve EPC Ratings?
The Energy Saving Trust states that after the roofs and walls, which leak a lot of heat, windows account for about 20 per cent of the total heat loss in a typical home. As such, installing more efficient windows can result in huge savings by reducing your energy bill. Furthermore, this investment will pay for itself should you decide to sell your home. It also reduces the carbon footprint of your home.
Given the importance of windows with regards to determining energy efficiency, windows are listed as key indicators in the EPC rating. A star rating system is used to rank the windows. Single and partial double glazing windows are rated as one or two stars. Newer and more energy efficient double glazed and triple glazed windows tend to score the maximum 5 stars.
Typically, upgrading your windows from single to double or triple-glazed will yield a £160 saving every year for 3-bedroom detached home. These are significant savings that any prospective homeowner will consider.
That being said, it is important to note that the cost and the potential savings from any upgrade to the windows will be listed in the EPC. This information might be used by buyers against you during the negotiating phase.
Home Energy Efficiency is Increasingly Becoming Important with Each Passing Day
The recent price hikes by the 6 major energy companies in 2017 and the extremely cold weather in early 2018 brought to the fore the need for consumers to increase energy efficiency in their homes.
For a better understanding, consider this: Energy UK states that over 660,000 homes switched their energy supplier in February 2018 alone. The ‘Beast from the East’ and the ‘Beast from the East 2’ have increased British household focus on energy consumption and performance.
Should You Reconsider a Home Purchase if the EPC Rating is Bad?
Home buyers are faced with the conundrum of whether to prioritise highly popular features and energy efficient features or not. However, whether this stops you from making a purchase or not is all up to you.
What we can say is there is always something you can do to improve the energy efficiency of any home. Even something as small as upgrading your windows will make a huge difference.