ENERGY?! EPC!!!!!

EEEEEH - PEEEE - CEEEE?!?

What you talkin’ about, Willis?!

Well landlords and property investors, just in case you missed the new Government legislation that came into force this year, here is what you need to know!

“From April 2018, landlords of privately rented domestic and non-domestic property in England or Wales must ensure that their properties reach at least an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of E before granting a new tenancy to new or existing tenants.”

So if you’ve bought a old grotbox to do up; a house that hasn’t been touched or updated for years, the likelihood is that it won’t meet the criteria needed.

This was the case with my recent project; when I bought it, it was rated at Energy Efficiency Rating G, therefore making it illegal to let out.

 

Now that I’ve had various works done to it - full rewire and energy efficient lighting, brand new combi boiler and central heating with thermostatic system and heat control valves, amongst a host of other things - it meets the criteria.

But that doesn’t matter a jot if your new updated rating isn’t listed on the national EPC register! No certificate, no point!

So yes, you’ve to pay a domestic energy assessor to come out to your house, check what you’ve changed, and then they’ll prepare you a new EPC and put it on the online database.

And this is exactly what happened at my project today, so I thought I’d share some insights to help you with yours.

 

1.) Know beforehand what the assessor is likely to be looking for, by...
 

2.) ...acquainting yourself with the www.epcregister.com online. It’s free, and you can nosy at the majority of properties in England and Wales by postcode.

 

3.) Usually there is an old EPC telling you recommendations of what to do to improve the rating. Simply do these within your refurb!

There are a few things to consider which are generally applicable to all properties, the list is here...

 

4.) Once all the works are complete, book your EPC assessor. Many can be found online locally, so shop around (today’s price for a 3-bed house was £39)

 

5.) Make sure your chosen assessor is approved, they should be able to tell you their EES membership number.
 

6.) Remember, to legally let out a residential property, the house must be rated as a minimum of E. You will get in bother if they are F or G! Don’t panic though, if they are, you are currently still allowed to rent them out, but only on the basis that they started their tenancy before the new rules came into force in April 2018.

So if you need to upgrade, you can wait until:
a) there’s a changeover in tenants and you get new ones
b) your current tenants sign a new tenancy
c) or there's a change in Government policy!

You can't avoid it forever though, and why would you? Sort your houses out so they're legal!

 

7.) Give your tenants the new Energy Performance Certificate, a tangible paper copy (and get them to sign to say they've received it!), and email a copy to them as well. as evidence of a paper trail audit. Because if the tenancy all goes horribly wrong, if you haven’t give them an EPC beforehand, you won’t be able to start the procedure to evict them!
 

So there we go, a brief overview to being street legal with regards to energy efficiency - Enjoy your energy!!!

 

If you’re local to Leeds/Bradford, here is the lovely chap I used today, and Adnan is happy for me to let you know about him.

 

To find out more about my work, please feel free to visit my website at www.kellyannmartin.co.uk

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THE BEST WAY TO PACK A SKIP             Skip to it!   Sometimes there’s just too much junk to take down to the tip So what do we do? I'll tell you now:  We go and book a skip! (I’m a poet and I know it!) Dilemmas with a skip: - Will it all go in? - What if it’s overfilled and they won’t take it? - Or worse, it’ll cost me a surcharge for being overfilled?! - What if some wretch dumps their junk in it before I’ve filled it with mine? Here’s some top tips on the best way to pack or fill a skip, so you don’t have gaping holes wasting space (and money!) 1. Before the skip arrives, prepare everything you want to go in it in one place. Then you can see everything at once, which will make it easier for sorting a sequence of item placement… 2. As soon as your skip arrives, get cracking! Or someone else will fill it for you… Start with your flat items first, cupboard doors, worktop etc. But don’t just whang stuff in willy-nilly, lay them down neatly in the bottom of the skip in a lovely pile, OCD-style. We’re making a tightly-packed skip, like the world’s best jigsaw puzzle - every gap must be filled! 3. Put your old bath in the bottom, then fill this neatly with wood, and broken tiles. Smashed tile rubbish debris can also be used to fill in any small gaps that occur as you go. 4. Break down as much as you can into flat pieces, ie kitchen units, cupboards, table. A hammer will help with this, and it is good therapy to smash stuff up and not get arrested for it! Lay your smaller flat pieces down, making sure nothing sticks up above the skip fill level. 5. Folding old carpets means there is too much bulk and space taken up. Use a Stanley knife to cut the carpets into smaller sections, and then either roll each section up tightly, or lay the pieces flat on top of each other. Ditto with old underlay underlay, arriba! Save one ‘skip sized piece’ of carpet / similar to put on top of the entire skip. 6. Continue filling, neatly, methodically, with an obsession for filling out every gap. You’re paying for all that air space left in the skip otherwise, so get your fill and get your money’s worth. Woe betide if you have to book another skip! Squash everything down as you go. 7. Once full, ideally not sticking up above the skip level, use your last carpet piece to cover the entire contents. This stops things blowing out or falling out and looks super-neat. Yay! 8. Ring the skip company immediately to say it’s level and full, come and pick it up asap please! Otherwise you will find that magically overnight, some lovely neighbour may do a dump-and-run of their own random junk on top of your lovely neat skip, and then suddenly your full skip will be overfull. So get rid of it as soon as you can, because rubbish attracts more rubbish! Can't believe I forgot to take a picture before the last carpet went on! My OCD took on a frenzy! Just take it from me that it was IMMACULATELY packed underneath, like pencils in a tin. And that’s it! Congratulate yourself on safely and responsibly getting rid of waste, and reward yoursen with a sandwich. Skip-a-dee-doo-dah!! One last bit of help: Things you can't put in a skip: (I'd like to add corpses to this list as well... ) Thanks for reading! If you'd like to know more about investing in property, please visit my website at www.kellyannmartin.co.uk Best wishes, and take care, Kellyann x x x

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Why We Should All Love a Council House!   Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin...   Back in the misty depths of time, not quite as far back as ancient Babylon, but a few decades back to that awesome period known as the 1980s… In this era there lived a mythical beast: Margaret Thatcher. Love or hate her, this Iron Lady was responsible for passing a scheme in the Housing Act in 1980, meaning that tenants of council houses now had the Right to Buy the home they rented from their local housing association. By some strange twist of fate another mythical beast/legend occurred in this same year: me! It is therefore a beautiful coincidence that those ex-local authority properties we find in council housing estates are my favourite type of property to buy – and I’ll tell you why: Since 1980’s Right to Buy policy was introduced, 6.5 million council houses became tenant-owned in the UK. As a result, nowadays there is plenty of this stock type to go at as more and more of them come on the market for re-sale   Ex-council houses are generally very large and roomy - just what an ideal tenant family would like to rent! They generally have gardens with them, often large ones at that. We know that outdoor space is desirable for those looking to rent, especially those with kiddies who need somewhere for them to run around and burn off steam. Ex-council houses are generally in good nick, as before sale it was down to the council to manage the upkeep and maintenance of them. You might find them a little outdated, but not very often will you find that they are dangerous. They are well-constructed, but beware: some types are made of prefabricated concrete, but a lot of the time these beauties are made of my favourite traditional red brick which has lasted decades. Strong and sturdy, that’s what we like! They are very good value for money, typically much cheaper than your other local residential estates. Some back gardens from a couple of my ex-local authority rentals. Look at the size of them! Could get another house on there if I wanted! Good for kiddies to run around safely though. The left one has now been totally renovated by the tenants with snazzy gravel. “But who would I rent such a house to?” I hear you say.  Just normal families, from the local area! And if you’ve got some pre-conceived stereotypical idea that all people who live on council estates are scruffy scumbags with a range of issues and problems, who would find himself at home on the Jeremy Kyle show… then you couldn’t be further from the truth. What if I told you that I was brought up in council housing? What's going on here? A well-dressed, clean, polite, well-cared, happy child tenant from a council estate dwelling? Anathema, surely?!?! When I mention this fact to people, occasionally, with select, narrow minded people, a look of disdain spreads across their face, as if I am going to mug them or stab them. They give the impression that somehow I should feel ashamed of my past – which I don’t, and have no reason to. Where you’ve come from is no correlation to where you choose you’re going.   The last time I checked, I definitely didn’t have 15 kids, a pending jail sentence and a drug addiction! Those of you that have met me in real life will also know that I wouldn’t be seen dead in a chavvy tracksuit, and I am pleased to report that I have all my own teeth. The stereotype simply isn’t applicable to everyone. DID YOU KNOW... ...along with 17% OF ALL HOUSEHOLDS IN THE UK... ...the following successful celebrities all lived on council estates in their life? JK ROWLING - DAVID ICKE - ELLIE GOULDING - ELTON JOHN - CRAIG DAVID - ALISON MOYET - JOE WICKS - CHERYL COLE - MICK JAGGER - LILY ALLEN - ALEXANDRA BURKE - SUSAN BOYLE - ANT AND DEC - DUNCAN BANNATYNE - JAMES McAVOY - LEWIS HAMILTON - ALAN SUGAR My single mother brought me up in a very nice Council house, which she kept IMMACULATE.  And hey ho, being settled in a nice house meant that I was able to progress in life, and escape the socioeconomic issues that were placed on us. In my first childhood home. Loads of space in the garden to play; look how happy I am! My second childhood home, a very nice red brick property. My poor parrot Percy is buried in that garden, if you're interested! Being poor is not a crime. But discriminating someone for it is. And part of “My Why” is that because I personally benefitted by living rented council housing, I feel a moral obligation to assist with providing houses to kids that were just like me. Families that need a solid footing in life to enable them to improve their situation and their future. Let me be clear on this: if you’ve had a tenant in the past who has caused you problems, it is not because they were a council tenant, or on benefits - it is because they were a wretch.  Good people exist even in the lower demographics of society, and I think, as successful business owners, it is our duty help those that want to help themselves. Many residents of council estates are proud people who want to better themselves – and Thatcher’s Right to Buy scheme meant that those who worked hard could get on the housing ladder, and thus fulfil that great British Dream of owning your own house. But isn’t there a shortage of housing? Buying all the council houses means there’s less houses for those in need surely? Not quite. The ones we’re buying have already been bought at least once before. They’ll never get to go back and be council properties again. And yes, that has caused a massive strain on the availability of rental housing, but we as property investors haven’t caused that. If anything, we’re doing the councils a favour by bringing rental accommodation back into use, especially if you choose to house families on benefits. What about rental demand for an ex-council house? Here in Leeds there are 24,000 households on the housing register and yet they can only let around 5,000 properties a year. People are on a waiting list to bid for properties as they become available. A quick glance on the Leeds Homes website (snapshot below) tells me the wait to bid for a two-bedroomed house can be anywhere from 3 months – right up to 58 months!!! Anytime I put a new property online for rental, there are many applicants. And if you choose to accept  people on benefits, you will find that families will bite your hand off. And so, we know why ex-local authority houses make excellent properties, we know there is strong demand to fill them, we know we can rent them to nice normal families, and you know why I personally think we should be helping. Go out and buy some ex-council houses and help those families thrive! CONTROVERSIAL PICTURE?!? Not really - I don't begrudge anyone helping anyone, anywhere. But I personally want to help local Leeds families who are struggling. And having read to the end, you now know my reason why. If you'd like to help me help others by means of investing in local Leeds property, just get in touch. The added bonus is that I get to help you as well. Visit my website or give me a ring for more details. Thanks for reading! If you'd like to know more about investing in property, please visit my website at www.kellyannmartin.co.uk Best wishes, and take care, Kellyann x x x