Upgrade insulation of council house

pamweld

Hi all

A close friend lives in a council house and the council upgraded the insulation in their attic approx a year ago which made the house a little warmer, the front of the house has a combination of brick and dry dash finish and the front rooms are exceptionally cold. the adjoining semi d to hers is privately owned and they got their insulation upgraded recently. During the upgrade their neighbor was informed that there was absolutely no insulation between the brick and inner leaf even though it was built in 2004 so totally against building regs, the neighbors are getting the wall pumped at the brick area and then external wrap insulation for the remaining walls of the property as the buildup is cavity block with insulated slab. Will this person be able to apply to the council to receive additional insulation within the property now knowing that it has zero insulation to the front?

Ray Palmer

The short answer is no.

The long answer is no.

Wouldn't be so sure on the building regs and insulation. They don't insist on insulation but the insulation rating of the walls which isn't very high. Air cavity does provide insulation.

Filling in the cavity is not a very good solution as it is unlikely to fill the gaps due to debris. Cold bridging is very common and the wall ties even do that.

Why do you think the state should spend the money is another question entirely.

Mrs OBumble

They can ask.

I don't know what thw answer will be.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained

I presume, if it's against regulation at the time of build, then the Council may send an inspector, who will then request the company that built the house rectify the issue?

Unless the Council themselves built the house, they're just a middleman. If the original builder says no, the Council will not do it.

pamweld

Thanks for you're replies, it appears they are in limbo here, if they were homeowners they could avail of the SEAI grants available to insulate their home better but since they are 'tenants' of the council they do not have permission to complete any of these works even if they wanted to. The developer is long gone leaving a long list of problems with the properties. attached picture is just one from attic before they got it insulated properly to give you idea of 'workmanship' that went on

Gumbo

Look into the warmer homes schemes.
The SEAI grants are for owned houses as far as I’m aware.

Ray Palmer

They aren't in any limbo. They don't own the property so can't avail of the grant even with permission. They are staying in the property at a substantial discount and don't have to pay for maintenance.
Why do you think the public should pay for a upgrade to the property to have cheaper heating bills?

pamweld

kceire wrote: »

Look into the warmer homes schemes.
The SEAI grants are for owned houses as far as I’m aware.

Thanks kceire the problem is as a person in a council house you do not own your home to avail of these grants plus they have no permission to complete these works even if they could afford to do them without the grants (I stand to be corrected)

pamweld

Ray Palmer wrote: »

They aren't in any limbo. They don't own the property so can't avail of the grant even with permission. They are staying in the property at a substantial discount and don't have to pay for maintenance.
Why do you think the public should pay for a upgrade to the property to have cheaper heating bills?

Ray the grant is available to the wider public so why shouldn't the more vulnerable in our society be entitled to avail of it also, as for substantially discounted rent, yes they have but one is working and paying into our tax system with their rent adjusted via means testing while the other stays at home with the young children. They both have very good work etiquette just fell on hard times and received help when they needed it, its not a matter of cheaper bills it more that the house actually warms up when they turn on the gas. The grant is available to me and you so why shouldn't it be available to them in some shape or form

Ray Palmer

pamweld wrote: »

Ray the grant is available to the wider public so why shouldn't the more vulnerable in our society be entitled to avail of it also, as for substantially discounted rent, yes they have but one is working and paying into our tax system with their rent adjusted via means testing while the other stays at home with the young children. They both have very good work etiquette just fell on hard times and received help when they needed it, its not a matter of cheaper bills it more that the house actually warms up when they turn on the gas. The grant is available to me and you so why shouldn't it be available to them in some shape or form

The grant is available for homeowners not the wider public.

They aren't homeowners so that is why it isn't avaible to them.

If I pay more tax should I get more back or less back? One of them working and paying tax doesn't count for much. It takes a long time to get a council property for life so they fell on hard times for a long time.

Not everyone can work a well paying job but likewise not everyone can have just one person working and afford a home. They are getting an excellent deal way above what many working people can afford to do. I do think it is an unreasonable request as a result.

Mrs OBumble

pamweld wrote: »

plus they have no permission to complete these works even if they could afford to do them without the grants (I stand to be corrected)

Councils can and do give tenants permission to do works on their allocated houses.

No, they cannot get the grant themselves. But they can ask the council to do the necessary work.

Shelli2

Councils can and do have scheme in place to upgrade the energy efficiency of their properties. I know this because I work in the sector and process a lot of these schemes for different councils.

No - they cannot apply for SEAI grants/schemes.

Yes- they should contact the council supplying the accomodationa and enquire about having them supply the insulation.

LirW

You can totally ask them, that's what a neighbour of mine did, they're council tenants and they agreed to provide them attic insulation and pump their cavity walls subject to survey.
The cavity couldn't be pumped, but the attic got insulated just a few weeks ago.
The houses are from the 80s and usually get some sort of insulation and heating upgrade now. 2 semi-Ds on my road are converted to flats and 2 got refurbished for new tenants, they put new windows and doors in and upgraded the heating.

I'd just try, at least you asked. I assume that councils have different policies on it.

Regulation is a word the council hate, because they have to spend money when it's introduced.


I live in a Council estate, built early 80s. In that time, the Council have been around a few times, each time something became a requirement. Replacing wooden front/back doors with PVC ones, then it was adding vents to the attics. Installing central heating. installing double glazed PVC windows (instead of the wooden, single glazed ones), fire blankets, carbon monoxide and fire alarms, Most recently it's been cavity walls getting pumped, attic insulation and boilers getting thermostats.

I think people that live in private estates might be a bit dumbfounded if they realised how much work the council do, and how many freebies and upgrades council tenants get (often without asking). We purchased our house off the Council (I often wonder why we bothered) but these things are ongoing. If someone in Europe or such somewhere decided that houses should be required to have 10ft rear extensions, you'd best believe the council would be out digging the foundations a few months later.

It's another reason why Councils don't want to build houses. They're sick of the expense. And these estates, that get all these freebies, are the ones where the council are spending a fortune removing burned out cars, dumping, cleaning litter etc. it's farcical.

EDIT: Sorry, I rambled off there a bit. The point i was trying to make was that if you're house is expected to have something, then the council will take responsibility (funds allowing) to give it. However, the issue you likely face is that the Council didn't build your house, and are just acting like a landlord. They will revert back to the builder, but are unlikely to assist directly.

pamweld

Thanks for all the input guys, I'll pass on the information to her, I sometimes wonder myself why I bothered buying a house when you see so much done for council houses but this is the system we are in. I don't mind seeing some families getting help where they are genuinely trying to help themselves and give their kids a better future. That is what the system was designed for and not for the scroungers that never did a days work in their life expecting everything handed to them.