BER rating F

Paddytheman

So very interested in a property which was an old cottage, now refurbished with considerable extension. The main problem being we would be close to maxing out financially to get this property which could be the one for life but the BER rating is F.

We are only entering the bidding now, would it be worth getting a surveyor in now to understand what we might face at the end of the process, more importantly whether its worth proceeding should the bidding process take several months only then to find out we face a bill of tens of thousands to make the house habitable.

Does anyone have any knowledge of BER and know if it will be a big (costly) job to get away from an F rating?

Appreciate any advice and thanks in advance....

L1011

Have you read the BER report? It will have some advise. An F does not mean a house is not habitable

Is a BER not just a way of grading how warm the building is/can be?

That's my (generally wrong) understanding of it anyway. Presumably it'd make no real difference to living there? You could insulate further when given the opportunity down the road?

Wesser

F does not been that it is not habitable.

You need to read the ber report.

You can make improvements to the house e.g. insulation as the years go by.

Diarmuid

You can finish with the bidding and then get your surveyor before signing the contacts. The BER is useful but it's no substitute for a surveyor. To be honest with what you have said about the property the BER world be the least of my worries

Snoopy1

Why would you not bid on it. I brought a F rated house 8 weeks ago, and already ive done a considerable amount to improve the grade. As others say an F rating does not make it not liveable.

denismc

BER ratings should be taken with a pinch of salt. Had one done a few years ago and there seems to be a bit of a fudge factor in the calculations.
You may have a high heating bill until you can improve the insulation of the house.
If its a very old house with poor insulation then there may be other things that need upgrading such as plumbing, wiring etc, so it may be worth getting a surveyor or builder to look at it to spot any potential expensive repairs or replacements.
It seems a little odd that whoever renovated the building didn't improve the insulation.

evolving_doors

Have you had a visual inspection yourself. What does the description say about heating?

Single glaze, no attic insulation, outdated heating system maybe?
Those 3 alone could bring it up to a c or d.

ouxbbkqtswdfaw

I had walls pumped and ceilings insulated to SEAI standard. My BER rating now is worse than I had before I got the work done. New rating standards, I think.

Paddytheman

L1011 wrote: »

Have you read the BER report? It will have some advise. An F does not mean a house is not habitable

Thanks for the reply, I see how " Habitable" wasnt the best phrase to use. I understand it can be heated but suppose my fear would be constantly having the heat on full to achieve this. I do know 2 stoves have been put in since the rating was achieved so undderstand this could lead to a considerable improvement.

Paddytheman

Diarmuid wrote: »

You can finish with the bidding and then get your surveyor before signing the contacts. The BER is useful but it's no substitute for a surveyor. To be honest with what you have said about the property the BER world be the least of my worries

I would appreciate if you would share them with me?

Diarmuid

Paddytheman wrote: »

I would appreciate if you would share them with me?

I probably read too much in "old cottage, now refurbished with considerable extension and F BER". I would still suggest a surveyor before signing contracts.

denismc

Its considered good practice to get an engineer to look at a house before signing contracts, it cost 200-500 euro. They should be able to spot major structural issues. A good engineer will suggest improvements that will improve your BER such as upgrading windows doors etc.
Keep in mind that any engineers report is visual only i.e they don't dig holes or drill into walls.

If you are still not happy you can get a structural survey done which is more in depth.

If you are handy with DIY you can improve the insulation yourself for little cost.
Topping up the insulation in the attic is easily done, just buy some rolls of insulation from you local builders suppliers. Replacing door seals is also easy to do.

Paddytheman

Cheers for the responses, I have a competent engineer that actually led to us pulling out of a previous property having gone sale agreed so wouldn't proceed without that.

On the BER I actually got a copy of the advisory report and had an architect friend look over it, nothing major and advised me to push ahead with the property.

Many thanks all.

annoyedgal

I bought a G rated 90 year old red brick terraced cottage. Genuinely was and still is the warmest house I've ever lived in due to the very thick red brick walls. However it flunked the BER big time due to single glazing, open fire, old boiler, attic insulation and not having controls on rads etc. Have updated all of this all general upkeep on house but that point is before I did the house was still really warm! New windows made a big difference.
That said a detached 80s build bungalow with a G rating would be a different story. Would need cavity insulation etc so a lot depends on the build. Don't be put off by it but definitely a good structural survey first.