EPC (energy performance certificate)

[ludi]

Hello,

I am a French student and I am manking a study about British people who are loooking for a Property in France and I would like to know if a lot of people trust the EPC.

So, if you are looking for a property in France, I would like to know if the EPC is one of your search criteria or if it is not important for you.

I thank you in advance for your help!

[Wilko]

It's a complete waste of space !

W

[crossy67]

[quote user="Wilko"]It's a complete waste of space !

W[/quote]

What he said.

[just john]

[quote user="crossy67"][quote user="Wilko"]It's a complete waste of space ! W[/quote]
What he said.
[/quote]

That's right

[quote user="ludi"]  it is not important  [/quote]

at all, just more bureaucracy

 

[nomoss]

Incompetent unqualified people pick figures from the air and feed them into an invalid incorrect formula to produce totally meaningless and useless figures. 

[audio]

Paperasse!

[Pickles]

If all else were equal, (location, price, style, etc, etc) then people might care a bit about the EPC.

BUT, the problem is that all else is NEVER equal. EPC is way down at the bottom of buyers' and renters' considerations.

Regards

Pickles

[Kitty]

I find them a nuisance.  I have to pay to get one for our holiday house in the UK.  There is no point because it is a very old house (over 300 years old) and so everyone knows that the energy performance will be poor.  The rent includes all heating costs and so holiday makers don't need to know the performance.

Just more bureaucracy.

[ViVienne]

would make no difference at all.

[woolybanana]

Nor for me.

[cooperlola]

If I were buying a flat or modern pavillion then maybe I'd take account of it.  But for an older-style property it wouldn't influence me, I don't think.

I know you're looking at the effect for British buyers but are you also going to see if native French buyers feel the same?  It would be interesting to know if our attitudes to such things are different.  Besides, if second homes are going to cost more for non-French residents due to the new taxation proposals, then there may not be anything like so many new British buyers in France anyway now.

[NickP]

France is a country that has no culture of surveys when buying houses so I don't think they would worry about an energy performance certificates. Just another example of a government trying to create jobs.

[cooperlola]

[quote user="NickP"]France is a country that has no culture of surveys when buying houses so I don't think they would worry about an energy performance certificates. .[/quote]Neither do I but I was interested to discover why Ludi was focussing on British buyers in particular, and whether a comparison between attitudes was being made in this study. 

[Pommier]

In our area there are lots of new builds which are being promoted as being 'BBC' (Batiment Basse Consumption), so I'd think that must be a positive selling point.

I'd agree that the EPC doesn't appear to be an accurate guide on older houses.

[ludi]

Thank you for your replies!

I'm focusing on British buyers because I'm doing a placement in a French estate agent that sales French properties to English and international buyers and I have a report to do for my studies in which I will talk about the EPC.

[nomoss]

[quote user="Pommier"]In our area there are lots of new builds which are being promoted as being 'BBC' (Batiment Basse Consumption), [/quote]

Maybe there will be some feedback in the future to establish the validity of the theoretical EPC figures being quoted.

[debbie]

As am American, currently owning a French holiday property but looking to sell to buy another, we prefer the agent immobilier sites which lists the EPC ratings because as retirees we will be looking to reduce our overall living costs as much as possible. The answers to this subject have been enlighting as I get the impression the ratings are not very accurate. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[Salty Sam]

[quote user="debbie"]As am American, currently owning a French holiday property but looking to sell to buy another, we prefer the agent immobilier sites which lists the EPC ratings because as retirees we will be looking to reduce our overall living costs as much as possible. The answers to this subject have been enlighting as I get the impression the ratings are not very accurate. Please correct me if I am wrong.[/quote]

It's not that the ratings are not very accurate Debbie, it's a case of some people who because their ratings don't come up to their own expectations, they then choose to to poo-poo everything from the qualifications of the assessors through to the formulae used to acquire the final rating figures!

[;-)]

[Rabbie]

When looking for a property the EPC comes relatively low on my list of priorities well below location, price and facilities.

[cooperlola]

SS, you cynic, you.[:D]

I hope it will be some years before I encounter this (we lived in our last house for 28 years) but I do find it interesting because some of the apparently (to us, living in our old farmhouse) very efficient modern style insulation materials do not get any rating at all under the system and yet appear to be excellent.  So when it comes to it, Sam, I may well develop the same attitude to these surveys.[:D]  The likelihood is though, that I'll be moving into somewhere modern and low maintenance when the time comes so like Debbie, I suspect it will come into my calculations then.  But when it comes to character properties, then location is still no.1 priority, with the style and look of the place a close second- although I will admit that we bought this place in February when there was snow on the ground and the fact that it was lovely and warm and cosy definately helped.

Ludi, thanks for coming back.  It will be interesting to find out what your conclusions are when you've done your report.[:)]

[Pickles]

[quote user="Salty Sam"][quote user="debbie"]As am American, currently owning a French holiday property but looking to sell to buy another, we prefer the agent immobilier sites which lists the EPC ratings because as retirees we will be looking to reduce our overall living costs as much as possible. The answers to this subject have been enlighting as I get the impression the ratings are not very accurate. Please correct me if I am wrong.[/quote]

It's not that the ratings are not very accurate Debbie, it's a case of some people who because their ratings don't come up to their own expectations, they then choose to to poo-poo everything from the qualifications of the assessors through to the formulae used to acquire the final rating figures! [;-)][/quote]

I don't have any beef with the EPC inspectors, really, but as Coops says, the problem is that generic values are used based on the construction of the property, so in the eyes of the surveyors with which I have had dealings, "stone" would still be "stone" even if there were also an interior framework with highly-insulating material on it. The values are not the result of tests on the actual property - nor could they be, because the test would be expensive to carry out. Your best bet is to look at a couple of years' worth of gas/electric/oil bills and bear in mind whether the owners are actually there most of the time!

As it happens, I have just had one carried out (in the UK). As usual the generic "recommendations" included swapping the existing combi boiler for a condensing one at a cost of 1500 quid and thus saving 50 quid per year (on their figures), possibly, or spending between 15-20K on Solar Voltaic for a saving of  ... 200 quid per year. Yeah, right.

Neither purchasers nor would-be tenants seem to care about the EPC.

Pickles

[Weedon]

As I have just found a buyer for my house, and as a result looking for another in France I have had experience of obtaining of both Energy Performance as well as the lead paint, asbestos and electrical checks.

Although my house is nearly 200 years old it did achieve a D rating in the Energy Performance, which I was told was helpful to the French buyer in obtaining a decent rate on the mortgage as, apparently, banks look favourably on a good energy rating.

As far as an aid to finding a house to buy, it never even crosses my mind to ask about it.

I wouldn't mind betting that in a couple of years time it will be discontinued

 

[ludi]

Hi,

thank you very much everyone for your replies, I think that basically I will say that even if the EPC in now obligatory and important in France for around 60% of property buyers (because many French people think that the EPC is important) Many International and more particularly British people don't pay attention to it and don't trust it, particularly if it concerns a character property.

[debbie]

Thank you all as your information is helpful to us. My OH feels that new or old, the importance of having double-paned windows, good insultation, up-to-date furnaces, etc. will help reduce electrical costs and should be installed if not already in place, and that considering the costs of having to install these, or not, is as important if not more so than placing judgement by the EPC ratings.

[audio]

I have just received my DPE certificate. What a total load of inaccurate nonsense.

When the ‘inspector’ was here he asked about the cheminée insert, I explained that it is rarely used as we have a pretty efficient geothermie system.Nevertheless ‘consommations en energies finales’ included over 5,700 KWh chauffage bois. Way over our usage. When I queried this he told me this was a standard figure along with an estimated 3200KWh for hot water by guessing how many showers we had each day!

What a complete waste of time, absurd.