Lack of Inspectors Available in June to Deal with Certificates

by Richard Leathem, Senior Partner at Rowberry Morris Solicitors, 5th April 2007

The one view I have is that the country is facing a disaster based upon my enquiries.  I have contacted many local surveyors.  The number of inspectors available in June to deal with certificates will be negligible.  The market will come to an almost complete halt causing extensive damage to the economy and precipitating a recession.

If you have anyone who disagrees, please ask them to let me know where I can find inspectors who will agree to provide us with reports to cover the Reading, Staines and Tadley areas where we deal with residential conveyancing. 

I was told there were 72 qualified inspectors to cover 1.6 million properties.  Some months ago I checked on the number of establishments offering training. It was minimal and one of them told me that although they had advertised the course, they could not accept any applicants because they could find no surveyor prepared to run it. 

I have found organisations offering courses but the next one does not start until after HIPs come into effect.  I have found a total of 8 inspectors for Hampshire of whom several are not due to qualify until after the effective date.

So - in  a nutshell - the country is doomed to the same kind of crash which the Conservative chancellor brought on us in 1986 and which lasted for years.

Any comment would be much appreciated.

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Responses

by Peter Fall - eaga professional services, 18th May 2007

The government's management of the HIP initiative is matched by all of their other disasters. Too few Accreditation Schemes appointed too late and only one approved software system with less than 2 weeks to go, spells a headlong dash into a brick wall.

However, despite this some of us believe we will have Domestic Energy Assessors available from day 1 in all areas of the country. eaga plc have been doing this sort of assessment for more than 15 years and in the last 12 months carry out between 1200 and 1500 every day under the government's Warmfront scheme.

The EPC is not a task for Chartered Surveyors but Energy Assessors. Forget about asking the local surveyors and ask the specialists.

by Richard Holmes - Third Stone Ltd, 25th May 2007

While I recognise the usefulness of Energy Performance Certificates in housing I think the current proposals are too rigid in their recruitment and may not produce the desired effect.
 
The logic seems to be that because this model brought about an improvement in white goods and boilers it will work equally well in the sale of homes. I hope it does but I'm not so sure it will.
 
When the labelling scheme was first introduced for white goods it had only a small effect on the market. It was only when the lower efficiency models where banned that labelling had a more significant impact. This is relatively straight forward for boilers and appliances because of the lifespan of the products and proportion of sales of new products vs second hand, but as houses have a lifespan in excess of 100 years and most are second hand it will be difficult to use the same techniques to improve their energy performance.

We can't just take the D to G's off the shelf. Once prospective home owners realise that they are mainly comparing F's with E's with very few A's or B's in sight they may see this as an irrelevance and achieve nothing more than a heightened state of apathy. It would be better to direct the money spent on EPCs into actual energy efficiency measures by giving house sellers the option of producing the EPC OR prove they have invested X amount of £s in energy efficiency improvements in the home.

Similarly, it would be better to offer landlords the choice of producing an EPC OR prove they have invested in energy efficiency since the last tenancy. Or perhaps we shouldn't be allowed to sell or rent a house with uninsulated cavity walls etc. With a little more imagination we can have EPCs AND a more energy efficient housing stock.
 
I also find myself in the strange position of having been involved with SAP ratings since 1994, having surveyed 1000's of properties and written a research thesis on the subject (which explored how GIS mapping could systematically rate the country using satellite images and EEACs surveys), but still have to pay £2000 and upwards to prove I can issue a Reduced SAP report. There must be a simpler way of involving practitioners who already have the experience.

A similar phenomenon seems to occur with energy audits in the non-domestic sector which will inevitably have a knock on effect on EPCs there. Energy efficiency professionals constantly have to jump through the same hoops for different schemes to prove their credentials. EG Carbon Trust Register, CIBSE Low Carbon Consultants, Energy Institute Consultants..... and that's before you consider how to be registered to issue EPCs......It has to be made easier to enter these uncertain markets.