MEES, EPC’s and External Wall Insulation

How can I improve the EPC rating of my property?

A lot of homeowners look to improve the value of their properties in terms of aesthetics – updating the kitchen, bathroom, etc., but people often overlook how much improving the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of your property can increase its value. In actual fact, by law nearly every property that is built, sold or rented in the UK needs to have an EPC rating.

The EPC of your property can have a direct effect upon the value of your property. This is because if someone were to buy your property rated at a G level, then they would have to spend more money on it to improve its energy performance and increase its comfort. On the other side of things, if you were to invest in improving the EPC of your property, then subsequently you could benefit from its increased value.

In this post we’re discussing one of our favourite home efficiency measures; external wall insulation.

Will external wall insulation make my property compliant with MEES?

There’s a lot of talk about EPC ratings at the moment due new landlord legislation. The Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) legislation dictates that from the 1st of April 2018 all landlords with tenants who are renewing/beginning will need to ensure that their properties have a minimum EPC rating of E – you can read more about MEES here. This has caused quite a stir because a lot of landlords are confused as to how they can improve their EPC ratings to comply with the new regs. As a result, we’ve had a lot of enquiries from landlords about whether or not external wall insulation will be able to bring their properties up to the required E rating that they need to continue letting out their property.

External wall insulation acts as a thermal envelope for your entire property. It’s not the cheapest option, but it’s one with consistent payback a seriously hefty impact on your energy efficiency. The potential for raising an EPC with this kind of solid wall insulation is huge, with up to 20 points (one entire grade bracket) up for grabs for the more intensive projects. That’s quite apart from the cheaper heating costs, and increased appeal to tenants.

If you’re interested in getting external wall insulation installed, fill out the contact form below or give us a call; we can get you in touch with local installers in your area.  We work with our partners over at the EWI Store, with a large team technical experts, product specialists, and a shared database of approved installers all over the country who are happy to advise you on what type, thickness and finish to go choose.

How will external wall insulation increase the value of my property?

Energy prices are going up and up every year, and as a result people are a lot more willing to invest in a property which will cost them less in long term energy bills. Improving your EPC rating is therefore a sure-fire way to improve the saleability of your property, as well as being great for the environment by reducing your carbon footprint.  One of the added benefits of external wall insulation is that you can increase the value of your property through improving your EPC, whilst at the same time increasing its appeal due to its improved aesthetics.

We see a lot of people installing EWI onto a whole range of properties with different aesthetics and different EPC ratings looking to get increased energy efficiency with EWI installations. The most common property that we see installing EWI are solid walled properties with really low EPC ratings. According to UK government statistics, for a homeowner in London and raising their EPC rating from a G to an E, the correlating increase to property value averages around £40,000.

Nevertheless, we will say that if your property is really low down on the EPC scale then external wall insulation alone won’t be a one-stop solution to raising your EPC. You will need to have other energy saving methods in place, such as loft insulation, working in conjunction with the EWI. It seems very obvious, but if you install EWI but then leave your loft completely bare of insulation, then it’s essentially the same as wrapping your house up in a coat but leaving the hat off – the heat still has an enormous escape route through the roof and your EWI won’t be as effective. As a result, your home won’t be very energy efficient.

It’s all very variable from case to case, so definitely get your property assessed and see what is recommended for you!


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