Hi Guildy,
We’re considering purchasing a flat which has an EPC rating of D. The EPC says it can be made C, but the first step is to provide cavity wall insulation. To do this I believe we would need the freeholder’s permission. What is the situation regarding the rerquirement to have a rating of C or above from 2025 if the freeholder won’t provide this permission?
The freeholder is the local council, so I doubt they will be in a hurry to upgrade the entire estate. Whereas we would be happy to fund it.
Thanks.
2 Comments
We don’t know the answer yet because it’s all speculation about the date and rules currently.
However, under the current E rules, there’s an exemption if you can prove you could not obtain consent.
As a point of note, if the property is empty on purchase, you’d be able to achieve the same by fastening thermal laminate boards to the inside of all external walls. That’s what we do on all ours, and we get the EPC assessor to attend before we cover it up (by leaving the window sill off or a socket removed so they can measure the thickness of the boards).
That would have a similar outcome without needing consent, although check with your assessor first.
Thank you. The property is in good condition so we won’t want to fit internal insulation, although we have it in our own house and it works very well.