BER Rating

Rafa1977

Hi folks, I had been checking out a house for last 3 weeks or so, and told estate agent once seller had BER Rating sorted, I would make an offical bid. Anyway to cut long story short he said it would be easily within C2 rating, but today he rang me saying it was a D2. My knowledge on BER rating isnt great, only from what I have been reading here and on various websites, but I have said to him based on the rating I wouldnt be now prepared to offer what we discussed, and he said seller wont go lower on price, what I am asking is how important of a factor should a BER rating be taking in to account when making an offer?

mathie

Coincidentally I was going to ask if a D2 was a good rating.

I viewed a house the other day with a D2 rating and I was told by the EA that it was the 'average' and that only the new built eco friendly houses get an A to C rating.

:rolleyes:

astrofool

Go and check the BER site:
http://www.sei.ie/Your_Building/BER/
It will tell you everything you need to know.

I don't know if it can be used that effectively to argue a price down, as the most expensive houses in the country will have a very low energy rating, due to when they were built. You are really limiting yourself to newer stocks of houses (and all the problems that go with them such as low levels of sound proofing).

Paulw

The vast majority of homes are in the C3-D2 bracket. Newer places may get to C1-C2, but it's highly unlikely you'll find anything better than that, unless it's specifically designed (and marketed) as being ultra efficeint (and expensive because of that).

Talk to any developer/builder/architect or BER Assessor and you'll find out what's normal and average.

I wouldn't worry about a D2 rating too much, and doubt you'll get any "discount" because of it.

Macha

Rafa1977 wrote: »

Hi folks, I had been checking out a house for last 3 weeks or so, and told estate agent once seller had BER Rating sorted, I would make an offical bid. Anyway to cut long story short he said it would be easily within C2 rating, but today he rang me saying it was a D2. My knowledge on BER rating isnt great, only from what I have been reading here and on various websites, but I have said to him based on the rating I wouldnt be now prepared to offer what we discussed, and he said seller wont go lower on price, what I am asking is how important of a factor should a BER rating be taking in to account when making an offer?

D2 is not great. It's average for houses built in late '80s/early '90s before building regs came in in 1992. It may not seem a big deal now but a carbon tax has just come in on solid fuel and electricity and water and space heating bills are regular costs.

Retrofittings can be expensive and often more complicated that first envisaged. For example, single leaf block construction can remove the possibility of cavity insulation and you're left with either external (expensive) or internal (expensive and messy) insulation.

If I were you, I would consult an energy advisor on the cost of retrofitting the property to say a C1 (I think they do the consultation for free) and factor this into your offer price.

Rafa1977

I am not 100% sure what year the house was built, but they started building in this estate in 2003, so I thought that a D raing for a house that is only 7 years old at the most to be very poor, and should be worried.

mrgaa1

don't worry too much about it. BER ratings use standard figures if relevant information is not available. Things you can check yourself are:
300mm of insulation in the attic, windows - single/double glazing, heating system, room stats, TRV's on radiators. If all of these are in order your house won't be too bad. check out the BER forum under the REC link

Heroditas

mrgaa1 wrote: »

don't worry too much about it. BER ratings use standard figures if relevant information is not available. Things you can check yourself are:
300mm of insulation in the attic, windows - single/double glazing, heating system, room stats, TRV's on radiators. If all of these are in order your house won't be too bad. check out the BER forum under the REC link

Yeah, some sound advice here.
Also, they could check that the boiler is new and efficient, preferably gas central heating.

ZYX

BER ratings will become more and more important over next number of years. UK is saying it will reduce greenhouse emmisions by 40% by 2020 and 95% by 2050 and Ireland has hinted it will follow suit. In otherwords average house in Ireland will have to be just about energy neutral by 2050. By that time a home with a current A rating may look very polluting.

Oriental Doll

Rafa1977 wrote: »

Hi folks, I had been checking out a house for last 3 weeks or so, and told estate agent once seller had BER Rating sorted, I would make an offical bid. Anyway to cut long story short he said it would be easily within C2 rating, but today he rang me saying it was a D2. My knowledge on BER rating isnt great, only from what I have been reading here and on various websites, but I have said to him based on the rating I wouldnt be now prepared to offer what we discussed, and he said seller wont go lower on price, what I am asking is how important of a factor should a BER rating be taking in to account when making an offer?

Please check out this website. http://www.berenergyrating.ie/ber_example.htm.

It's important that the property is energy sufficient. Regardless the environment, even the annual cost for the bills would make such different for you. I am currently living in a lovely apart and in a great location. However, the apt isn't energy sufficient and it cost us fortune paying the bills. Make sure to get a place with a good rating.

The best of luck!