Energy Performance Certificates come to Spain

As from 1st June 2013 every property in Spain for sale or rent will now need an Energy Performance Certificate. This is a new law in Spain that is being formalized on the 1st June 2013 by Royal Decree. It has been on the cards for a long while now and is something I have been following very closely as it will affect anybody who at the moment or in the future wants to rent their property out or sell their property. There is more information available on our website

This will be very interesting, as they brought them in in the UK a few years ago, and they were supposedly just for information.  Pretty soon new rules are coming in whereby landlords won't be allowed to rent out any houses with a poor rating.  If this happens in Spain, I imagine a hell of a lot of houses would have one of the lowest ratings, with the thin walls, in particular but also with the lack of adequate heating...

Don't know about how Spain is going to work this all out, but if you do have a house in the UK you can get an idea of how your house fairs for one of these certificates by going onto a company's website that issue's them, mine is a new built house, fully insulated to more then enough standards of the day, built shortly before 21st May 2010, and i have no certificate.

It recommended that if i fitted one of these new condensing boilers costing from £2,000 upwards to £3,000 i would save £69,00 per year, one of my Daughters got one fitted and she says her gas bill has gone up by about £100,00 plus per year for roughly the same heat, the son-law is quite sharp on exes for the house.  Others have said they wont last more then 5 years.

It recommended that if i fit solar panels and quoted me somewhere between £9,000 to £14,000,  i would then save another £233 per year, they would only guarantee these panels for ten years worth of work, so if they did conk out in say ten years i would have saved about £2,330 in electricity/gas but might have to spend another £10,000 grand.

It recommended that i fitted some form of insulation to the floor, the very costly carpet underlay we had laid under the very costly carpets is rubbish for insulation properties, so they said. How you insulate a suspended concrete floor beats me..and it beat them as well when i asked.

If i don't get any of this done i get a lower energy rating.

Now the companies that issue these energy certificates charge a cost, no doubt VAT on the invoice price, pay the VAT over, and pay tax on the remaining profit, i cant help thinking that some government body somewhere says........

"I wonder how we can get some more tax without us getting the blame for increasing taxes"

On the solar panel water heating. 

I fitted a panel 11 years ago.  That is I did the work.   It cost me the equivalent of about £1,000, and a few euros more for the pipework and cables.  Since then I have probably turned on the electric heating element about 30 days a year.

Fingers crossed, it is still working great,

Chrisinspain-can you give the approximate cost of an  EPC for a typical  3 bed house, preformed concrete walls ,on an urbanisation with gas boiler for water heating. Just want to have some idea of what's coming!

I have just googled it and apparently it is law  from April 2013 not June.

It will be interesting to see what is charged in Spain.  In the UK, we pay about £50-£60 for them.

When I googled it prices seem to vary between 100 for an apartment and from 250 upwards for a detached house.Nice little earner for some.

Hi, the law actually was meant to come out in April but it looks like it's going to be delayed until June1st. Prices do vary in Spain with the average cost being around 250 euros. The prices are dependent on the price the asessor has to pay out, so yes the givernment will have a nice little earner out if it. For an exact price I would have th know where you are exactly, so if you want to know send me a pm. 

Also just a point, but no property will fail, they will just get a lower rating, however in Spain the average rating looks like it's going to be a D so it will probably not make a huge difference for people who want to rent their properties out.

 Prices did start of at £150 in England when EPCs were introduced. Prices fell as data collectors were used instead of qualified assessors. Quality fell and legislation was changed but by that time thousands more had trained thinking they were going to get over £100 per hour. They were some companies running around cities charging £29.99 +vat for an EPC in UK, by the time all costs were paid they must have been working for less than £10 per hour and doing poor surveys.

Give it a few years and the price in Spain will drop to a more reasonable amount.

The average property in UK is D rating which has better insulating properties and better standard of heating provision than the average Spanish property. Spain must have lower standards for its ratings. A typical Spanish property with single brick walls, solid floor/roof, electric or wood heating would have a UK rating of F or G.

In England there is legislation afoot to stop properties with F,G ratings to be rented out, but strangely in Scotland where it is colder this legislation has been delayed.

Lots of grants available in UK for energy efficiency, it would be nice if some came to Spain.

There has been talks about grants, but this is Spain and Spain has not got any money. If grants come they will come from the EU, but I'm not holding my breath.

Chris,  does the Spanish government have plans to do something like the greendeal in the UK?

There has been talk of it, but there is nothing set in stone. If it does go ahead it won't be anytime soon. It's all still new to Spain really. The only reason that they are going for the EPC's is so they don't get fines from the EU

 Sounds like how the UK was few years ago. Tories done away with Home Information Packs but had to keep EPC as it was an EU ruling. 

The EPC was 'improved' last year and the greendeal was built around it. Look out for this being the  next big mis-selling scandel in the UK.

The Energy Certificates (BER Cert) were introduced in Ireland a few years ago.   The cost of a survey and cert is now 100 euro including VAT reduced form an initial cost of 250 euro.. 

Of the 1.6 million homes about 300,000 have been surveyed.

The reasons for obtaining a cert are if  the property is  to be let or sold  or if the property is being upgraded in order to qualify for a grant.  ( then 2 surveys are required one before work starts and one when work is completed)

There is a 4000 euro grant available for exterior insulation , 200 for loft insulation and about 600 if the boiler and radiators are upgraded to a more efficient type. 

For some reasonthe BER cert is only valid for 10 years.

It is likely to come into force in June 2013 that all properties in Spain that are for sale or rent must have a valid Energy Performace Certifcate. The certificate will be valid for 10 years and will need to be produced at the notary when a property sale is due to complete. HERE IS MORE INFORMATION FROM THE WEBSITE  EPC-SPAIN.COM

Who can issue an energy efficiency certificate?
According to the royal decree “energy efficiency certificates should be issued by qualified professional technicians who are authorised to undertake building projects and thermal installations for buildings. The property owner may choose the technician of their choice ".

What is an energy certificate?
It is a report that describes how efficient a home is in terms of energy consumption. It assigns an energy rating to each home on a scale which ranges from "A" (the best) to "G" (the worst).

Will I be able to sell a home which does not have an energy certificate after 1/06/2013?
No you won´t. You will have to have a certificate before selling your home.

Who will have to pay for the energy certificate?
The owner of the property to be sold or rented.

How long is the energy certificate valid for?
The certificate is valid for 10 years. This means owners will not have to obtain a new certificate during this period unless they renovate or change the property in any way.

If I want to sell my home and it has a poor energy rating, such as D, E or F, am I obliged to make any improvements?
No, you are not obliged to make any improvements even if your property has a low rating.

Will a low rating affect the sale of my home? Can I sell it without any problems?
You are free to sell your home. The only way it will affect a sale is how the rating influences the buyer.

How much will the technician who issues the energy certificate charge?
€250 + IVA

Will the technician need to visit the property (generally homes)?
Yes. They have to visit the property to take measurements and collect information about the property before drawing up and certifying the report.

Chris will you doing EPC,

We are already registered to assess and issue the certificates. Have a look on www.homecomforts.es where you will find all of the details about the energy certificates. If there is anything else you need to know just ask on this site or send me a PM and I will get back to you ASAP

 Our UK house we have rented out is 13 years old, fully insulated, double glazed but detached and is a band D. Our new home in the UK is 45 years old, poorly insulated and a semi, but is also band D. Work that one out!!! I would imagine that our apartment in Spain on a equivalent basis should be in at least E if not F. I suppose the ratings will al be relative to country though?

When you say the EPC is needed for renting out, that would be renting out full time I imagine and not as a holiday let as most holiday lets include all utilites so renters will not be affected.

Mark

When you say the EPC is needed for renting out, that would be renting out full time I imagine and not as a holiday let as most holiday lets include all utilites so renters will not be affected.

It means when let legally, and as we know practically no one does that.

Legal and Spain in the same thread?

Stick with illegal and happy renter and owner,

Rossetti