First-time buyers could save £1,000 a year with this little-known hack

Ahead of the rise in stamp duty on April 1, many first-time buyers are rushing to complete before the deadline to avoid overpaying.

Stamp duty is the tax paid when purchasing houses, flats and other land and buildings over a certain threshold. At present, nothing is required on anything worth up to £250,000, and first-time buyers are exempt up to £425,000 – but only until March 31.

But there’s one little-known thing that first-time buyers need to look out for when perusing new properties, and that’s the property’s EPC (or energy performance certificate).

Put simply, it’s a nifty piece of information that ranks how energy efficient a property is, with A being the most efficient and G being the least.

Likewise, it also shows the potential – or what it could be improved to, with a little bit of TLC. Read: quite a lot of extra work, time and money spent on improving insulation.

In fact, taking a bit of extra time to check this information before committing to buying could save you thousands per year. Previous statistics from Knight Frank found that moving from a D-rated to a C-rated property could save up to £400 per year in energy bills, adding a further 3% (£9,003, on average) to their value when relisted on the market.

The difference for jumping from bands E to C was even higher, with savings of £1,000 per year – or £83 per month.

‘When you buy a property, your solicitor will send you a copy of your new home’s EPC, but if you’re not quite there yet, it’s easy to find with the government’s EPC search tool,’ Celia Rumbold, OVO’s energy expert, tells Metro.

‘Taking the time to read the EPC in full is well worth it, as it can help you understand ongoing running costs and plan any energy efficiency improvements you might want to make to reduce your carbon footprint and save money.

‘Plus, a higher EPC rating can add value to your home if or when you come to sell in the future.’

Likewise, new research from OVO finds that when it comes to first-time buyers specifically, more than one-third (37%) wish they’d better understood how an EPC rating could affect their bills and a fifth (19%) admit that they didn’t so much as take a glance at their home’s EPC rating before putting in an offer.

Sharing her other tips other first-time buyers should know before they move in, Celia suggests finding out the current energy supplier for your new property.

You’ll typically inherit the previous occupant’s energy supplier if you don’t switch, which leaves you liable to overpay. As per OVO’s research, 55% of first-time buyers didn’t know this before they moved and were caught unawares.

‘You’ll usually just end up on their standard variable rate tariff if you do nothing, which is rarely the most cost-effective option,’ Celia adds.

‘The good news is, it’s easy to switch to a different tariff or supplier and, if you don’t know who supplies the energy to the house, all it takes is a simple online search.’

And, once you’ve moved in, it’s worth shopping around a little bit for something cheaper – or even greener.

‘It takes just a few minutes to compare your options and switch via comparison sites and checking suppliers’ websites for special offers. Your EPC will also come in handy as you can use the energy usage estimate to get a more accurate idea of the total cost,’ Celia notes.

‘Plus, it’s worth bearing in mind that paying by direct debit and having a dual fuel tariff if you have gas and electricity, usually gives you a discount.’

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