Today's EPC Adventure

Soooo, the existing official EPC rating for this flat I'm buying is (G) which can't really get much worse and is roughly equivalent to a cardboard box sitting in the rain. 4 essentially indicates that it preserves no energy whatsoever. The other three ground-floor flats in the building are in the D & E ranges. I have always viewed this G rating with more than a little scepticism because I don't actually think it's possible for a stone-built flat with party walls, and it seems like I am correct.

After a lot of faffing about and possibly pretending to be an engineer-type person, I managed to get myself a free trial of some EPC software. Just for the record, the software is ridiculously un-user-friendly, but hey. I managed to get through it in half an hour or so, putting in the info which I knew for the flat I'm in the process of buying. Every time I didn't know the answer - for example, what the floor is made of - I put the worst assumed answer or selected "unknown", which one would think will apply the worst option.  I battled it out and produced a dummy EPC so that I could check what it should be.

Decidedly not a 4.

Even with the worst-case options selected, this flat scores a 34 (F) and has a potential for C!!!!! And by simply insulating the water heater it should reach 56 (D). That'll do me just fine. Even if it isn't too accurate and I only achieve an E, that's legal-letting-territory.

Relieved is not the word. I'm quietly annoyed that the previous assessor seems to be absolute garbage, but on the plus side perhaps that G rating is the reason for the low price and helped successfully scare potential rival bids away. Having E range will make it lettable, and thus, suitable for an investor to buy in the future. D would make it still suitable after 2025. So for the princely sum of about £150 on a heater jacket and a new EPC assessment, it might gain the flat some £10,000 in value.

That'll do, pig.

Don't tell the seller, ok?